Telephony system and method with enhanced call monitoring, recording and retrieval

ABSTRACT

Inmate communications systems provide a feature-rich platform with a high degree of flexibility and security employing call control facilities located off institutional premises. Authentication processes for calling and called party verification include biometric techniques in some embodiments. Distributed processing of call control and billing provide flexible interactive call payment processes. Preferred embodiments feature voice over IP transmission and control featuring controlled access to avoid addition of unauthorized third-party call participants. Monitoring, recording and selective forwarding of calls is provided under control of system administrators.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority based on these relatedProvisional Applications:

-   1. IP-Based Telephony System and Method, Ser. No. 60/607,447, filed    Sep. 3, 2004;-   2. Telephony System and Method with Improved Validation, Ser. No.    60/676,155, filed Apr. 29, 2005;-   3. Telephony System and Method with Improved Call Monitoring, Ser.    No. 60/676,153, filed Apr. 29, 2005;-   4. Telephony System and Method with Improved Caller Access Control,    Ser. No. 60/676,151, filed Apr. 29, 2005;-   5. Telephony System and Method, Ser. No. 60/676,154, filed Apr. 29,    2005;-   6. Telephony System and Method with Improved Fraud Control, Ser. No.    60/676,152, filed Apr. 29, 2005;

Each of these provisional applications is hereby incorporated byreference for all purposes in the present application as if set forth inits entirety herein.

In addition, other related non-provisional applications filedconcurrently with the present application are:

-   7. Telephony System and Method with Enhanced Fraud Control, by W. L.    Apple and T. E. Pabon;-   9. IP-Network-Based Telephony System and Method, by W. L. Apple,    and T. E. Pabon;-   10. Telephony System and Method with Enhanced Validation, by W. L.    Apple, T. E. Pabon and J. V. Townsend;-   11. Telephony System and Method with Enhanced Caller Access Control,    by W. L. Apple and T. E. Pabon;-   12. Telephony System and Method with Improved Fraud Control,    by W. L. Apple, K. J. Gumbiner, T. E. Pabon, and W. Ryan.

Each of these concurrently filed non-provisional related applications ishereby incorporated by reference for all purposes in the presentapplication as if set forth in its entirety herein. In the sequel, theabove-identified related incorporated applications will be referred toby the paragraph number in which it appears, e.g. incorporatedapplication 1, or incorporated provisional application 1, is a referenceto IP-Based Telephony System and Method cited in paragraph 1 above.Because each of the cited concurrently filed applications incorporatesall of the others, but none incorporates itself by reference, thecorresponding paragraph number for the present application isintentionally omitted.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the field oftelecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates, inone aspect, to voice and data telecommunications systems and methods.Still more particularly, aspects of the present invention relate tovoice and data telecommunications systems and methods for use inproviding collect, pre-paid calling or other billing options. Yet moreparticularly, embodiments of the present invention relates to suchtelecommunications systems and methods as applied to inmate telephonecalling systems and methods for providing telephone calling services toinmates in correctional and other confinement facilities. The termsconfinement facilities and correctional facilities are usedinterchangeably in this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various telephone calling and billing arrangements have been developedover the long history of the telecommunications industry. Fromoperator-controlled local and long distance calls to automatic directdialing to newly emerging computer telephony calling over data networks,and from plain-old-telephone service (POTS) to collect calling, tocalling card, toll-free calling and pre-paid calling—among manyothers—the telephone industry has been continually seeking to apply newtechnologies to provide new and more flexible telephone callingservices.

Electronic and optical switching, transmission, signaling, and databasestorage of many kinds have expanded the reach of telephony techniques tomany new and enhanced applications. These and a variety of processorsand other facilities embedded in, or linked to, more traditionalfacilities in the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) have stillfurther enlarged the spectrum of telephone services available to thepublic.

One telephone service area that has developed rapidly in recent years isthat of providing telephone communications to inmates in jails, prisonsand other confinement facilities, sometimes referred to as InmateCalling Services (ICS). While ICS contexts involve functions in commonwith everyday home and business calling, and with calling from publicfacilities such as airports and hotels, special issues arise that arepeculiar to ICS. Thus, for example, controls over timing, duration,allowed called destinations, and billing—among many others—must beaddressed in planning and implementing ICS.

An important goal in providing ICS is call efficiency—despite the needto observe the many constraints characteristic of ICS calling. Thus, forexample, automation of call setup, monitoring and billing processes forICS is of high importance. In particular, since collect and otherspecial billing arrangements are common in the provision of ICS,avoidance of costs associated with human operators to providestep-by-step controls for ICS has long been recognized. U.S. Pat. No.4,054,756, issued Oct. 18, 1977 to Comella and Yokelson discloses asystem and method for automating many operator services, includingplaying of recorded announcements, collection of information fromcalling and called parties, call setup and billing based on such inputs.Use of functionality like that described in the last-cited patent hastherefore found application in the provision of ICS.

As computing power has greatly increased and been made available in theform of now-ubiquitous personal computers, the Comella, et al. teachingshave been adapted to provide much of the computing power used to provideICS. In particular, providing ICS to inmates in confinement facilitieshas lately been accomplished through the use of analog telephone stationequipment (usually hardened versions of basic home or office telephonesets) connected to one or more personal computers located on-premises atcorrectional facility locations. Such computers are used, among otherthings, to control telephone access to the PSTN, record conversations asappropriate, and to generate and record Station Message Detail Reporting(SMDR) data for use in billing calls made from the correctionalfacility.

FIG. 1 shows a functional network diagram representation of a typicalprior art ICS systems, including apparatus installed at a correctionalfacility connected to the PSTN. In particular, a telephone facility 100is shown as including a plurality of analog telephone sets 101-i, i=1,2, . . . , N, illustratively connected to control computer 110.Telephone sets 101-i and computer 110 may be physically located indifferent areas or different buildings of a correctional facility; morethan one control computer 110 may be employed if required to meetcalling volume at the facility. Control computer(s) 110 located on-sitewithin an illustrative correctional facility are typically connecteddirectly to the PSTN via on-site analog loop-start telephone lines or,in some cases, multiplexed digital connections, e.g., T1 carrier links.Personal computer-based control computer 110 typically includes aplurality of peripheral interface cards to accomplish connectivitybetween the analog stations and the PSTN. Illustratively, Intel DialogicD/4PCI cards are used to interface to up to four input telephone setsper card. In some applications, up to 16 such cards can be used in asingle computer to provide access to PSTN 120 for up to 64 telephonesets. Other particular Intel cards can provide much higher linecoverage. While the illustrative Intel cards provides functionality fordetecting ringing associated with incoming calls, ICS calling istypically limited to providing only outbound calling from thecorrectional institution.

The one or more control computers 110 at each correctional facilitysite, in cooperation with PSTN functionality provided off-site by localand long distance telephone companies, control the sequence of eventsrequired to complete ICS calls originated at the correctional facilitysite to called parties connected to the PSTN. Such calls are typicallyeither collect or debit/prepaid telephone calls to remote called partiesidentified by inmates using the facilities shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1the PSTN is represented as cloud 120; parts of PSTN 120 are shownoutside this cloud to emphasize the part they play in completing thecall. In particular, illustrative PSTN switches 140 and 145 are shownserving representative stations, shown as telephones 170 and 160,respectively, in FIG. 1. Telephone station set 160, by way of example,is indicated as the called party's telephone set.

The owner or provider of the on-site telephony equipment and ICS incurspurchase, operation and maintenance costs associated with the completionof such calls, and seeks a profit by charging a rate for ICS calls thatrepays both the fixed costs (equipment, maintenance and other) and thevariable per-call costs that the provider incurs for use of PSTN 120.

As will be appreciated from the foregoing, control computer costs,telephone line use costs, and maintenance costs associated with ensuringa high level of system up-time at many geographically distributed(on-correctional-site) installations—each including complex computerhardware and associated software—can be burdensome and expensive.

Voice over IP (VOIP) techniques using the Internet or other datanetworks offer possible alternatives to a range of existing business andresidential communications systems. In particular, VOIP systems areemerging as candidate implementations for a variety of enterprisecommunications solutions. One illustrative example of such systems isavailable from Quintum Technologies. Residential use, as illustrated byAT&T's CallVantage VOIP service over high-speed cable connections, anddigital subscriber line Internet connections by local exchange carriersand others, is also emerging as a possible alternative to local and longdistance calling using traditional Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS). Aformal XML Schema for IP-based voice telephony service is included asExhibit ipdr-1 in incorporated provisional application 1.

A particular aspect of collect, bill-to-third-party, and calls involvingother particular billing options is that of billing validation. Billingvalidation relates generally to validating the availability ofidentified accounts for billing of a call, and has proven to beespecially important for inmate calling. Thus, for example, validationis commonly sought for collect calls to determine that the account,including called party account numbers, exist and are of a class forwhich billing can be accomplished by one or more billing entities. Insome cases, as, for example, for at least some calls to a called partyat a cellular account number, it is often difficult to ensure billingfor the benefit of an ICS provider placing the call on behalf of acalling party. Often bills for calls completed to a variety of calledparty destination types prove to be uncollectible unless complex,expensive and time-consuming validation techniques are used. Further,these techniques are applied in prior practice even when a call is notcompleted, as when the called number is busy or a called party fails toanswer.

Because of the rise in popularity of cellular and other portabletelephone devices, many of which do not provide billing collectionservices for calls placed by wireline ICS providers, an important stepin insuring payment for ICS is to verify the type of service subscribedto by the called party for ICS calls. Perhaps even more important inthis regard is the rise of CLECs or Competitive Local Exchange Carriers,who often lack the ability or inclination to provide billing collectionfor calls processed by an ICS provider. CLECs are to be contrasted withthe traditional incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), such as aRegional Bell Operating Company (RBOC).

Some estimates report that upwards of 20 percent of calls sought to becompleted by ICS providers are ultimately to be completed by CLECs. Whencombined with mobile services such as cellular telephone services forwhich billing is sometimes problematic, the combined percentage of callspotentially associated with billing problems can easily approach orexceed twenty-five percent.

To help reduce the number of calls completed to telephone stationsassociated with cellular service, CLEC and other services that do notensure collection and payment of charges for ICSs, and for other serviceproviders concerned about billing of charges for services rendered, anumber of databases are maintained by the telephone industry forchecking the status of particular telephone lines. In particular,so-called Line Identification Databases (LIDB databases) provide avariety of information for telephone lines. Thus, a database querylaunched to a LIDB or similar database for a call can provide someinformation relating to whether calls to a particular line (and theaccount and phone number associated with it) can be counted on (or not)to be billed by the number provider.

Other databases having special information about particular telephonesubscriber accounts may also be maintained, including, generally, aclass known as billed number screening databases or by other particularnames. Some of these are maintained locally by service providers basedon past history of payment, credit or other factors. All of these mayhelp service providers, including ICS providers, to increase the shareof calls that can actually be billed, thereby increasing the share ofcalls for which charges are actually collected.

As might be expected, use of LIDB and other telephone line or accountdatabases by service providers seeking information about particulartelephone lines or accounts incurs charges by the providers of suchdatabases. Since data commonly found in such databases is available moreeasily to some industry participants than others, concern is sometimesexpressed by those querying the database as to these charges andconditions associated with use of the databases. In particular, asignificant percentage of calls for which line or account databases(hereinafter, LIDB databases) are queried (i.e., for which so-calleddatabase dips are performed) prove to be no-revenue calls. Thisno-revenue condition can arise because the LIDB data raises issues aboutthe likelihood of being able to bill for the call. For example, theunlikely ability to bill for the call may be indicated by a databaseresponse indicating no data is available for the particular line/account(hereinafter, line). In some cases, it is possible to arrange foralternative payment methods by which a called party can pay for receivedcalls, even if such payment options are not reflected in the LIDBdatabase response. But by the time such arrangements have been made, aLIDB dip may well have been performed, and a cost to the ICS providerincurred.

Further, even if the line information received in response to a LIDB dipappears to warrant the completion of a call in the expectation of beingable to bill for the call, the call may not be completed, e.g., becauseof a busy line or a no-answer condition at the time of the call. As toconditions associated with LIDB services, it is often required that evensuccessive calls to the same number must employ a separate LIDB dip,thus incurring multiple charges for the same information over a shortinterval. Moreover, storage (or caching) of prior LIDB dip results istypically discouraged under contracts with LIDB database providers.Thus, ICS and other service providers incur substantial costs for LIDBservices, even for calls or call attempts for which no revenue will bederived by the ICS provider.

In yet another way that ICS providers incur costs without deriving anyrevenues involves so-called billed number screening (BNS). Callersattempting to place a third number billed or collect call to a lineequipped with BNS will be advised by an announcement that such billingis not authorized and another form of billing is required. Such need foralternative billing arrangements may not be determined before costs ofcall setup and LIDB dip has been performed, thus incurring cost to anICS provider. It is obviously preferable that such alternative billingarrangements not be negotiated on each call to a BNS line.

It is therefore desirable for network users, such as ICS providers, toascertain with increased certainty that calls placed can be billed.Moreover, it is desirable that such calls incur minimum costs to theprovider and provide convenience for calling and called parties to anICS call.

A need therefore exists to provide flexible and economical validation ofbilling status for called parties or others relied upon by an inmate topay charges for ICS calls.

A continuing problem in ICS is that though an original called party(e.g., an inmate's lawyer or an approved family member) can be qualifiedby correctional authorities to receive inmate calls, such calls cansometimes be forwarded, extended, bridged, or otherwise connected toother parties who have not been so qualified. A primary mechanism forpermitting calls to such not-qualified persons or locations includes theconference call and call forwarding functionality available to many PSTNusers. In the sequel, all multi-party, conference, forwarded, bridged,or otherwise extended calls will be referred to as conference calls or3-way calls—irrespective of the actual number of stations involved andirrespective of the particular mechanism used to establish or maintainthe call—unless the context requires otherwise. It should be borne inmind that some 3-way calls may be authorized, e.g., to simultaneouslydiscuss a legal issue with an attorney and spouse, or with two attorneysat different locations.

Many techniques have been developed to attempt to thwart unauthorized3-way calling. These have often employed monitoring a calling line todetect hook-flashes or other signals characteristic of a 3-way callattempt for an ongoing call. A number of problems with such techniqueshave long been recognized, including false-positive indications. Claimsfor successful detection of unauthorized 3-way calls on inmate callshave frequently been regarded as dubious. It is therefore desirable tocontrol inmate calling behavior by seeking to positively detectunauthorized 3-way calling, but to permit 3-way calling when properlyauthorized.

Applicants have further recognized that present implementations ofexisting features and the introduction of new features in existing ICSsystems and methods often suffer limitations imposed by current personalcomputer-based on-site computers and PSTN communications links andprocesses. Areas in which ICS systems and methods are currently limitedinclude (i) location of processing assets on-site at correctionalinstitutions, thereby limiting or precluding ready access to specializedor high-powered computing and communications resources, (ii)establishing the identity of a calling inmate with a high degree ofcertainty, (iii) rapidly and economically recording, monitoring, storingand selectively playing back inmate conversations to serve a variety oflaw enforcement needs, and (iv) identifying with a high degree ofcertainty when unauthorized persons receive (including by forwarding) orare added to calls originated by calling inmates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Limitations of the prior art are overcome and a technical advance ismade in accordance with the teachings of the present invention describedin illustrative embodiments herein.

Applicants have recognized that the application of VOIP principles tothe implementation of ICS offer flexibility, added feature functionalityand reduction in operating costs needed to support significant upgradingof existing ICS systems and services. In one illustrative embodiment,Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) techniques are practiced in acardless IP Telephony Switch (IPTS computer, or IPTS in the sequel) inconcert with other peripheral systems to perform functionality providedby traditional ICS systems, and to provide significant additionalfunctional capabilities while yielding cost reductions and operationalefficiencies. IPTS computers and related peripheral functionality may beco-located at central or regional nodes of a data network, or suchcomputers and peripheral units may be distributed over plural nodelocations in the network. Such flexibility in locating cooperatingfunctional elements is an important advantage of packet-based networks,such as those employing VOIP principles and protocols.

An illustrative IPTS computer is based on Intel's Host Media Protocol(HMP) technology to process digitized speech and telephony events whileavoiding the need for traditional trunk and station telephony cards aswell as avoiding the need for IP telephony cards. It proves advantageousin some embodiments to employ well-known communications protocols, e.g.,Ethernet protocols and one or more standard Ethernet Network Interface(NIC) cards, to transport digitized voice and control signals to the IPTelephony Switch.

Thus, for example, overall operation of one illustrative system providesfor analog telephone stations—handset/keypad combinations—to beconnected via standard telephone lines to one or more industry-standardForeign Exchange Station (FXS) VOIP gateways in such numbers andcapacities as are required to handle originating traffic for eachparticular correctional location. These FXS gateways provide dial tone,ring voltage and basic signaling functionality to a calling station, andin some implementations also perform conversion of calling party analogvoice signals into compressed (or uncompressed) digital data streams.Example VOIP gateways are provided by AudioCodes Inc. and include analoggateway digital gateway, and VOIP Media Gateway offerings. Furtheruseful background on typical VOIP gateways is available from AudioCodesInc. These documents appear as included Exhibits AC-1, AC-2, AC-3 andAC-4, respectively, in incorporated provisional application 1.Applications employing such technologies are described in a white paperentitled “AudioCodes Enterprise VoIP Networking: (EVN): Migrating to theNew Voice Infrastructure,” available at from AudioCodes, Inc. and isincluded as Exhibit AC-5 in incorporated provisional application 1; andin an applications description entitled “AudioCodes' Enterprise VoIPApplications Description,” available from AudioCodes, Inc. and includedas Exhibit AC-6 in incorporated provisional application 1.

FXS gateway functionality is illustratively provided through interfaceson stand-alone units dedicated to such gateway functionality, as well asthrough ports on routers, access servers and network switches, includingIP switches. Such FXS functionality is also illustratively employed forconverting incoming digital signals from the IPTS into analog voicesignals directed to the calling stations. FXS gateways are, in turn,connected, illustratively via standard Ethernet links to the IPTS(through the use of a standard Ethernet hub or switch). Alternativetransport of digitized voice and control signals between a data networkand correctional facilities may be employed in accordance with flexibledesign choices available for practice of the present invention.

The IPTS is then connected via standard Ethernet links, hubs orswitches, (or via other data network transport techniques) asappropriate to the network topology, to an industry standard FXOgateway. The FXO gateway functions to convert between digital VOIPpackets, or other data signals, and signals compatible with the PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN). FXO gateways are advantageouslyconfigured to interface between the VOIP digital device (IPTS) andeither or both traditional phone lines (e.g., analog loop-start), ordigital (e.g., T1) PSTN lines. This allows the phone service providerthe flexibility to use whichever type of PSTN line is morecost-effective for a given instance.

In accordance with another aspect of illustrative embodiments of thepresent invention, the above-described network elements, including theIPTS and associated database and processing functionalities, areadvantageously programmed and configured to provide centralized orregional call control functions and administrative functions. These callcontrol functions include caller authentication, call setup, billingcontrol, billing validation, call progress, security, quality control,and other functions to be described more fully below. Administrativefunctions include maintenance of allowed-caller lists, allowed 3-waycall parties, account status, billing records and others.

Advantageously, centralized or regionalized processing of call controland administrative tasks in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention permits simplified and efficient operation of ICSs. Moreover,overall costs associated with the purchase, installation, updating,operation and maintenance of ICS systems in accordance with embodimentsof the present invention are reduced. Importantly, networks based onpresently described inventive principles are readily scaled to handle arapid expansion, as by the deployment of ICS at an additionalcorrectional facility.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, billingvalidation methods are employed that prove to be efficient in the use ofsystem resources while permitting flexibility in offered billingoptions. Thus, in accordance with a feature of illustrative embodimentsof the present invention, special first call treatment is provided inICS calling by means of which costs for an ICS provider can be minimizedwhile providing convenience and choice to ICS customers. In thisillustrative embodiment, normal processing of an ICS call is modified bythe inclusion in a billed-party-validation process in which a query toat least one database (local, LIDB or other) has raised an issue as tothe likelihood of payment being made. Then, in accordance with apresumed or default mode, the improved processing provides that a callbe allowed to proceed without charge to either the calling or calledparty, subject to certain limitations. In illustrative circumstances,such as when a new account has been opened, sufficient databaseinformation is not available, or when a collect call is sought to bemade by a particular calling party to a particular called party for thefirst time, thus raising possible payment issues, an inventive firstcall feature is advantageously applied.

So, for example, rather than delay an initial call while other possiblepayment arrangements might be made, a call is allowed to be completedwithout charge to either the calling or called parties. However, thiscall is advantageously preceded by an announcement to the called partyor both the called and calling parties that while payment issues havearisen for the present call, the call will be completed without charge,but subject to the requirement that the party to be billed (usually thecalled party) engage in a discussion with a representative of the ICSprovider at the completion of the call regarding payment for futurecalls. Generally, the allowed duration for the free call will be for areasonable, but limited, time.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, callerauthentication is enhanced through the use of speaker verificationtechniques, either alone or in combination with traditional user-id andpassword techniques.

Another aspect of the present invention relates to monitoring,recording, storing and selective retrieval for playback of inmateconversations. Such recording-related functions are, of course,performed within constraints imposed by law, including restrictionsrelating to attorney-client communications. Such selective real-timeaccess to on-going conversations and selective retrieval of recordedcalls for subsequent playback advantageously employs word-spotting,audio mining and other speech processing techniques, as well asnon-voice call-related data, as may be appropriate.

In particular, it proves advantageous for law enforcement personnel tobe selectively granted access to high-quality on-going conversationsbetween a calling inmate and one or more other parties, e.g., to thwartactual or potential criminal activity or otherwise maintain good orderand discipline. In providing these and other monitoring, recording andaccess functions, some embodiments of the present inventionadvantageously employ speech recognition functionality to identify thekind of treatment accorded calls placed by, or to, particularindividuals.

In particular, it proves advantageous to employ so-called word spottingtechniques, i.e., comparing words or phrases occurring in the course ofmonitored or stored conversations with particular predetermined words orphrases having significance in particular circumstances. For example,when potential criminal activity is a concern, the occurrence ofparticular recognized words or phrases having significance in thecontext of such criminal activity will, in accordance with an aspect ofthe present invention, trigger a predetermined response. Such triggerwill illustratively take the form of a flag or other distinguishingindicia being associated with a physical location on a recording medium,or a particular time in a call recording. These triggers are furtheradvantageously associated with or, conditioned by, other occurringevents or predetermined facts, conditions, or events. For example, if aparticular phrase is found to have been spoken in a monitoredconversation between two particular individuals, a course of actionmight be pursued that is different from that pursued when theconversation is not between the same two individuals.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention,advantage is taken of existing standard VOIP protocols, such as thewell-known SIP protocol, and enhance identification techniques fortreating all VOIP calls as conference calls involving at least anauthorized calling party, illustratively an inmate calling party, and anauthorized called party. So, an ICS call is set up in a substantiallysimilar manner to that used in accordance with the SIP protocols forsetting up conference calls generally. Additional qualifying informationis advantageously required with respect to a named calling party oridentified called network address, telephone number, or other personalor terminal indicia. Among other criteria used to determine initial orcontinued qualification by an ICS call participant are receipt ofcurrent terminal or address information and current speakeridentification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The above-summarized description of illustrative embodiments andfeatures of the present invention will be more fully understood upon aconsideration of the following detailed description and the attacheddrawing, in which like-numbered elements and steps in the severalfigures have a common identity, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of a typical prior art ICS system foruse a particular correctional facility.

FIG. 2 is an overall view of a network useful in practicing illustrativeembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a representation of a first set of VOIP and call controlfunctional elements useful in the practice of first embodiments of thepresent invention in the context of a network of the type shown in FIG.2.

FIG. 3B is a representation of a second set of VOIP and call controlfunctional elements useful in the practice of second embodiments of thepresent invention in the context of a network of the type shown in FIG.2.

FIG. 3C is a representation of other call control and billing functionalelements useful in the practice of other embodiments of the presentinvention (including those functionalities in common with those shown inFIGS. 3A and 3B) in the context of a network of the type shown in FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart representation of network-based call processingfunctions and steps performed in accordance with a class of applicationsadvantageously executed on systems of the type shown in FIGS. 2 and3A-3C.

FIG. 5 is a representation of an alternative implementation of thenetwork of FIG. 2 showing FXS/FXO gateways and aspects of billing andcall control functional elements.

FIG. 6 shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention in whichFXS and FXO functionality is resident at a correctional facility.

FIG. 7 shows an alternative embodiment of the present invention in whichVOIP call processing is accomplished for a plurality of correctionalfacilities, with increased call connection facilities.

FIG. 8 shows an adaptation of the system of FIG. 2 with VoIP processingfunctionality of FIG. 2 being illustratively accomplished using MediaServer software with HMP.

FIG. 9 is a representation of illustrative software for executing onmedia server 810 in FIG. 8 to achieve the connection, control and otherfunctions described above with reference to FIGS. 2-7.

FIG. 10 shows an adaptation of the prior art system of FIG. 1 in whichthe control computer(s) formerly at a correctional facility site is/areremoved to a local off-site location, such as a local telephone centraloffice.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a billed number validation process,including an advantageous free first call feature, performed at billingverification server(s) such as 365 in FIG. 7 in cooperation with IPTSand other functional units at one or more network nodes such as 720 inFIG. 7.

FIG. 12 is an adaptation of FIGS. 3A-C showing analog lines from acorrectional facility extending to an off-premises location, such as anexisting LEC central office, with speech codecs located in theoff-premises location.

FIG. 13 shows an IPTS fitted with network monitoring and controlelements, speech recognition functional elements to control portspanning or mirroring for selective redirection and/or storing of packetdata streams.

FIG. 14 illustrates a particular application for word spotting toprovide real-time access to ongoing ICS calls and the use of centralizedor regionalized data storage for long-term retention and access of ICScalls.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart reflecting a 3-way call attempt detection methodusing facilities available in the embodiments described above, whichmethod may also be practiced in a PSTN context by adapting standardsystems in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 16 is a functional block diagram of a speech silence detectoruseful in application of the method of FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a network block diagram of elements of a VOIP-enabled systemfor performing conference call setup in accordance with aspects of thepresent invention.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a method for the prevention orreduction of unauthorized 3-way calls employing enhanced operation ofelements of the illustrative network of FIG. 17.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some Typical Functions Performed in Completion of ICS Telephone Calls

As noted above, calls by inmates at correctional facilities are usuallysubject to a number of administrative, security and billing constraints.In particular, ICS calls are primarily collect calls (though pre-paid,credit card and other call payment options are also used). ICS calls areautomatically processed, at present, at the correction facility, byperforming a sequence of steps including some combination of thefollowing:

(1) authenticating the caller, as by verifying one or more (or sometimesneither, or with other particular identification) of a keypad entry of a(sometimes public) UserID and a (private) Personal Identification Number(PIN),

(2) if the caller is authenticated, receiving digits keyed by the callerto identify the called party (called number),

(3) recording or retrieving a stored voice announcement, e.g., one madeby the caller, identifying the caller,

(4) verifying that the called party's number is one appearing on a setof allowed called party numbers,

(5) placing a collect (or other special billing) telephone call to thecalled party while temporarily disconnecting the calling party,

(6) upon answer at the called number, playing a recorded announcement(typically including the recording made by the calling party) explainingthe nature of the call and requesting approval to complete the call,typically subject to payment by the called party,

(7) upon receipt at the ICS system of a response indicating willingnessto accept charges for the call, bridging the calling telephone to theconnection to the called party number to complete the call.

Other steps typically performed by the ICS system can include

(a) time recording to determine charges for each completed call(collecting and processing SMDR data),

(b) checking for the nature of the called party station (e.g., whetherthe called station is a wireless or other special type of station),

(c) processing call attempts that are not answered or for which chargesare not accepted,

(d) collecting and coordinating SMDR data from a plurality ofcorrectional locations in one or more correctional systems.

Many other steps—such as monitoring and reporting functions, whetherspecifically related to the placing and billing of a call or not—arealso performed for security, law enforcement and other purposes. Asnoted, these steps are presently performed on site at a correctionalinstitution—with necessary interaction with, and completion of calls byswitches and other facilities of the PSTN.

Illustrative System Overview

Systems introduced in the prior art to automatically accomplish theforegoing steps have typically been located at individual correctionalfacilities to serve calls made from the respective associated facility.These and other systems for performing the required automatic operatorassistance functions (recording and playing announcements, placement ofcollect calls, receiving acceptance signals from a called party, and thelike) have been end-to-end circuit switched implementations thatinefficiently used network facilities and provided limited featureflexibility and suffered operational, maintenance and customizationlimitations. Present inventive contributions overcome these and otherlimitations as will now be described in more detail.

Initially, a VOIP network will be described with reference to FIG. 2that provides underlying infrastructure for implementing ICS services ina flexible, economical and efficient manner. Known enterprise VOIPnetworks, their component elements, and the manner of interconnectingthese elements to provide communications in a typical corporate or otherenterprise are described at links provided by Cisco Systems, Inc. Oneparticular description presents the design of a long distance network.For ease of reference, this last-cited paper is included as Exhibit Clin incorporated provisional application 1. Another white paperdescribing gateways (from Micronet) is included as Exhibit MN-1 inincorporated provisional application 1. It will be clear from these andmany other public references that the design and implementation of aVOIP network for completing otherwise ordinary telephone calls is wellunderstood. The following descriptions will show how such now availablenetwork designs and implementations can be adapted and extended toprovide ICS and features associated with ICS.

FIG. 2 is an overall view of one network useful in practicingillustrative embodiments of the present invention. Shown there is atelephone facility 200 at a correctional facility including a pluralityof telephone stations 201-i, i=1, 2, . . . , N, represented by theirrespective telephone sets, and an interface 210 for interfacing thetelephone stations 201-i to a data network 220. Data network 220 may bethe Internet or other IP network, or it may be a composite data networkhaving a variety of access interfaces and transport links. For example,at least part of data network 220 may, in some embodiments of thepresent invention, include an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) backboneor other ATM links and may also include appropriate ATM accessfacilities, e.g., including one or more digital subscriber line accessmultiplexers (DSLAMs). Internet Protocol (IP) packets may be reformattedor otherwise converted to ATM cells for transport over ATM networks; ATMcells may likewise be converted to IP packets in an overall network.Portions of data network 220 may employ other particular packet, frame,cell or other data format and may be transported in accordance with anappropriate one of the standard protocols used with these respectiveformats. For illustrative purposes only, the present descriptions willbe primarily couched in terms of the well-known Ethernet formats andprotocols and packets configured and processed in accordance with IP andrelated protocols, e.g., the well known TCP protocol.

Inmate Telephone Sets and Network Interface

In many implementations, telephone stations 201-i in FIG. 2 will bestandard analog telephone sets—physically hardened as appropriate to usein particular correctional facilities. As such, telephone sets 201-i maybe functionally identical to telephone sets 101-i shown in the prior artsystem of FIG. 1. In other cases, telephone stations 201-i may includedigital telephones that incorporate analog-to-digital (A/D) anddigital-to-analog (D/A) conversion in the sets themselves or inassociated terminal adapters. Such A/D conversion operates on analogspeech generated by a party to a telephone conversation at a station201-i and, in a complementary manner, D/A conversion operates on speecharriving at a station 201-i to provide analog speech to the party.Signaling information, to/from a station 201-i may also be processed, asappropriate, by A/D and D/A using such facilities.

The telephone interface 210 to data network 220 shown in FIG. 2 willtherefore assume a variety of particular implementations, each suitablefor interfacing with particular types of telephone sets and datanetworks. Thus, if telephone stations 201-i are standard analog stations(without A/D and D/A functionality), then their voice output andsignaling information may pass as analog signals directly to datanetwork 220 in FIG. 2 for further processing. In such instances, Network220 will also, in a complementary manner, provide for conversion fromdigital signals to supply analog voice and signaling information totelephone stations 201-i.

Illustrative interfaces 210 employing so-called FXS and FXOfunctionality and protocols will be described below. Additionally, anyof the well-known analog or digital multiplexing techniques may also beused for combining signals to and from the telephone facility 200, orfrom two or more such facilities at the same or separate correctionalfacilities.

In other cases, interface 210 will include digital-to-analog conversionprocessing to provide digital voice and signaling information to datanetwork 220 and to receive corresponding digital signals from datanetwork 220. In some cases, interface 210 will perform the further stepsof packetizing and de-packetizing of telephone signals exchanged betweentelephones 201-i and data network 220. As will be apparent, interface210 permits great flexibility in selecting particular station equipmentat correctional facilities and particular types of data networks 220.

Data Networks

Data network 220 shown in FIG. 2 includes functionality to accommodatethe input/output characteristics of telephone facilities 200. Inparticular, data network 220 will, in appropriate cases, includefunctionality for converting analog signals received from telephoneinterface 210 to digital signals suitable for further transmission ondata network 220. In such circumstances, data network 220 also providesfunctionality for converting received signaling information and receiveddigital-coded voice signals to analog form before directing such analogsignals to interface 210 and respective ones of telephone sets 201-i.

In particular embodiments of the present invention, network interface210 will include functionality of standard Network Interface Cards(NICs) associated with standard IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet) or high speed(including Gigabit Ethernet) protocols or other standard networkprotocols. Such Ethernet protocols are sometimes referred to as 10 BaseT and 100Base T (10BT or 100BT), or Gigabit Ethernet (Gig-E). In otherlinks in network 220/225, even higher speed transmission may be achievedusing 10 Gigabit Ethernet protocols. See IEEE standard 802.3ae (10Gigabit Ethernet Alliance (10GEA) and in “10 Gigabit TechnologyOverview,” Intel Corporation, 2003 (Attached as Exhibit 1-2 inincorporated provisional application 1). In such Ethernet networkinterfaces outputs from interface 210 may be in the form of therespective frames or blocks associated with the respective protocols. Itwill prove advantageous in many cases to multiplex the output fromtelephone interface 210 over a single transmission link to data network220, or, in any event, a number of links smaller than the number oftelephone sets 201.i. Accordingly, telephone interface 210 may includeone or more Ethernet links to data network 220.

In appropriate cases, as when the output from telephone sets 201-i, anadapter associated with these telephone sets, or telephone interface 210is in one of many well-known digital coded formats, e.g., PCM, ADPCM, orone of the compressed formats such as ITU-T G.711μ Law, G.726-32, G.723,G.711aLaw, G.722, G.728, G.729, GSM, and other well-known codecstandards, many of the resulting data streams may be multiplexed overone or more T1-grade links or a fractional T1-grade links. Other useful,techniques for transmission of coded data over data networks aredescribed in IETF RFC 1890, “RTP Profile for Audio and Video Conferenceswith Minimal Control” included as Exhibit IETF-1 in incorporatedprovisional application 1. RTP is a well known protocol used instreaming of multimedia content that proves useful in many contexts,including techniques used in practicing embodiments of the presentinvention.

Whether telephone sets 201-i or interface 210 in FIG. 2 provide digitaloutputs, e.g., standard IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet) frames, or whether analogsignals are received and converted to digital format at data network220, it proves advantageous in accordance with illustrative embodimentsof the present invention to switch and transmit these digital signalsover all or part of data network 220. Again, these signals may be inEthernet, T1, fractional T1 (FT1), ISDN, ATM, IP or other digitalformats. For present illustrative purposes only, it will be taken thatthese digital signals are advantageously converted to Internet Protocol(IP) format for transmission over the Internet or other IP-basedcommunication links, which IP links typically form at least part of datanetwork 220. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that inother contexts, other particular protocols will be used.

As will be elaborated below, receipt of voice digital information (andrelated signaling information) at data network 220 from a plurality ofsources, e.g., a number of correctional facilities, or a number ofbuildings or sections of a single correctional facility willadvantageously be concentrated in data network 220. It will beunderstood, however, that data network 220 may also be used to transportforms of packetized or other digital-formatted, non-speech information.

VOIP Processing in Data Network(s)

Because the architecture and infrastructure of data networks aregenerally well known, features of data network 220 that are notespecially related to the present invention are not shown in the drawingof FIG. 2. However, for emphasis only, network functionality associatedwith VOIP processing is shown in a separate network cloud 225 in FIG. 2.As will be understood by those skilled in the art, no such separategrouping of facilities is necessary, or even appropriate in many cases.To the contrary, it proves advantageous in many applications andconfigurations to have processing for performing VOIP and othernetwork-based functions distributed in network 220 in a manner bestsuited to the geographical, functional and economic constraints andrequirements, goals and tasks at hand. This characteristic of datanetworks will be observed in the further discussion herein, with onlythe relevant processing elements and functions being displayed for thefeature functionality being described.

Embodiments of the present invention will, however, typically includesubstantial shared network-based resources, as distinguished from havingindividual control and administrative facilities located at, anddedicated to calling from, respective ICS facilities. Thus, it willprove advantageous to have at least a substantial portion of switching,routing, control, administrative, billing, security and maintenancefacilities operate in a shared, networked mode on behalf of an overallnetwork, or a logical, functional or a geographic regional subset of anoverall network. In particular, call processing functionality includedin control computer 110 of FIG. 1 that is used in present networks toperform these functions is moved to centralized or distributed networknodes at “off-site” (off-correctional-facility-site) locations. Inaddition, because of the availability of substantial processing capacityat such network nodes, significant additional functionality notavailable at “on-site” ICS locations is readily made available innetwork 220 (including the portion represented as 225) in FIG. 2. Thisadditional functionality is conveniently provided through execution ofnew, augmented or specially configured application software—orcombinations of existing software and hardware functionality in thisdata network.

Certain functions, such as selected network access functions may beretained at a location that is on-site at a correctional facility. Thus,for example, collection of information, such as speech samples, irisscans and other personal identification indicia may be performed at anode located on-site at a correctional facility. At least preliminaryprocessing of such collected identification information will also beperformed on-site in some cases. In some cases, recording and, at leasttemporary storage of, recorded calls may also be performed on-site. Ingeneral, however, important advantages in processing, storing andretrieving call content, billing, and other call-related information arerealized by relocating these functions to off-site network nodelocations.

Examples of network resources and processing for VOIP, and othermultimedia content and data formats in an overall network arrangement ofthe type shown in FIG. 2 will be described below.

Interfaces Between Data Networks and PSTN

FIG. 2 further shows the connection of data network 220 (supported byits VOIP processing components shown as 225) through a gateway 222 toPublic Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 120 for completion of calls tostations such as telephone station 160 and 170 through respectiveswitches 145 and 140. Gateway 222 provides an illustrative interfacebetween data network 220 and PSTN 120 in accordance with one or morewell-known protocols. Among these protocols are those set out inInternational Telecommunications Union (ITU) Recommendation H.323 forpacket-based multimedia communications systems, the Session InitiationProtocol (SIP) defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) inRFC 2543 and Media Gateway Control Protocol discussed in IETF RFC 3015,and also published as ITU-T Recommendation H.248). Each of these readilyavailable recommendations, RFPs or other standards-like documents ishereby incorporated by reference in the present text as if set forthexpressly in its entirety herein. See also Intel's overview in “SIP andIPLink™ in the Next Generation Network,” attached as Exhibit I-1 inincorporated provisional application 1.

When ICS calls are sought to be completed in the context of the networksof FIG. 2, all or some of the same requirements and constraints imposedin the prior art system of FIG. 1 may apply. For example, an emphasis oncollect calls, and the use of recorded announcements are maintained inillustrative network-based embodiments of the present invention. Thefollowing discussion of these network-based implementations will,however, focus on network-based processing in combination withinnovative network architectures to accomplish improved ICS.

FXS and FXO gateway functionality is illustratively employed ininterfaces to correctional facility telephone resources 200 forinterfacing with data network 220. Foreign eXchange Subscriber (FXS) andcomplementary Foreign eXchange Office (FXO) functionality is well knownin the analog telephony world and has been adapted for use ininterfacing between telephone station equipment and a variety ofnetworks. See, for example, a tutorial by G. Yancey and K. Devlin-Allenof Texas Instruments, Inc., entitled “Building Residential VoIPGateways: A Tutorial—Part Two: VoIP Telephony Interfaces,” appearing asExhibit TI-1 in incorporated provisional application 1.

The FXS and FXO functionality may be implemented through interfaces onstand-alone units dedicated to such a gateway role, e.g., gateway 321 inFIG. 3A, as well as through ports on routers, access servers and IPnetwork switches. In some applications, the FXS and FXO functionalitywill be present at a calling party site at which telephone stations arelocated, and in other cases will be present in a data network. See, forexample, the document included as Exhibit C-2 in incorporatedprovisional application 1 for illustrative background discussion ofphysical and virtual voice interfaces including FXS (and FXO) resources.Illustrative procedures for configuring voice ports and dial peers onvoice gateway routers are provided in other Cisco documents (ExhibitC-3) and Exhibit C-4 in incorporated provisional application 1.

Though traditional (prior art) installations of complete networkinterfaces have been located on-site at correctional facilities,illustrative embodiments of the present invention permit use ofsimplified interfaces between correctional facilities and the datanetwork, and between the data network and the PSTN. Thus, for example,in some embodiments only a single Ethernet connection (of sufficientbandwidth) need be provided for each of these simplified interfaces.

FIG. 3A shows one illustrative embodiment for VOIP processing cloud 225constituting part of overall data network 220. Shown in FIG. 3A isgateway 321, which will illustratively include FXS functionality forinterfacing with telephone-data-network interface 210. As noted above,other particular gateway functionality between data network 220 andinterface 210 will be appropriate in some cases, depending on the natureof interface 210. Also shown in FIG. 3A is a telephony packet switch,illustratively an IP packet telephony switch (IPTS) 320. Modern IPpacket switches have many of the characteristics of general purposecomputers and can be programmed to provide high-speed switched packetprocessing, as is well known in the art. In appropriate cases IPTS 320may include a high speed router for routing IP packets to gateways indata network 220 based on addresses derived during call setup pursuantto one or more of the protocols used for VOIP and othervoice-over-data-network protocols.

Recent implementations of high speed (e.g., Gigabit) Ethernet protocolsand associated networks also permit data network 220 to include one ormore switched Ethernet (data link layer-2 or layer 2-addressed) links.Here, layers refer to the well-known seven-layer OSI Reference Model.See, for example, J. Davidson & J. Peters, Voice over IP Fundamentals,Cisco Press, 2000, (hereinafter, “Davidson”) especially Chap. 7, pp.151-164 (included as Exh. D-1 in incorporated provisional application1). By way of example, when gateway 321 is arranged to receive Ethernetframes from one or more correctional facility interfaces 210, thenswitch 320 will, in some embodiments, advantageously include an Ethernetswitch to appropriately direct these frames toward their destinationwithin data network 220. In this context the Ethernet switch acts as ahigh-speed network bridge with a plurality of interfaces to differentnetwork portions or to different networks. In the course of traversingdata network 220 it will often prove convenient to convert Ethernetformatted voice and signaling information to another form, e.g., IPpackets or ATM cells, for transmission over a variety of physical mediatoward the desired destination. Still further, conversions, includingconversion back to Ethernet format—or to another format—may also proveadvantageous before final delivery of the digital information to adestination gateway, such as gateway 322 in FIG. 3A, for conversion toan appropriate format for delivery to PSTN 120. In other cases, it willprove convenient to have data from an ICS calling location formatted asIP packets at an early stage of transmission.

If required, conversion to a different format, e.g., from Ethernet to IPpacket format, will be performed in a gateway, such as 321, or at aswitch or router (reflecting alternative implementations of IPTS 320) inFIG. 3A. Widely available routers, e.g., Cisco's 3600 Series routers,include ports for receiving data in a variety of formats, includingEthernet, ATM, T-1, etc. See further, Exhibit C-4 in incorporatedprovisional application 1.

It will be understood that the representation of data network 220 andits VOIP Processing portion 225 in FIG. 2 may be greatly simplified ascompared with many actual network arrangements for practicing thepresent invention. Thus, in particular, network 220 and its componentelements for VOIP Processing 225, will in some networks includesubnetworks, each of which may serve a portion of the calling traffic,with connections between subnetworks being accomplished throughwell-known gatekeepers, such as those described in the above-referencedITU H.323 and other industry standards. Examples of internetworking areprovided in Exhibit C-1 included in incorporated provisional application1 and many standard texts. See for example, Davidson, pp. 129-148,included as Exhibit D-2 to incorporated provisional application 1,including FIGS. 6-7 on p. 139 of that exhibit.

FIG. 3A also shows database 323 connected to IPTS 320. Database 323 isone illustrative implementation for storing routing, billing, callprivilege, call restriction and other data pertaining to identifiedcallers, destinations, or other calling information. In appropriatecases, database 323 may be used to store conversations made by inmatesin correctional facilities, as is presently the case—subject to certainexceptions, e.g., calls made to an inmate's legal counsel. As will bediscussed below, it is sometimes advantageous to provide separatestorage and associated indexing, retrieval and playback facilities formonitoring, recording, and otherwise processing inmate call content.Though not shown as connected directly to illustrative interconnection(Ethernet) LAN 310, it may prove convenient to make such a connection,e.g., for mirroring certain packet streams to be recorded and otherwiseproviding more direct access to database 323 for other non-switchingfunctions, including those identified above. Storage and processing ofinformation of the type just described at a central (or regional)location provides efficiencies not found in traditionalcorrectional-site-based ICS call processing systems.

FIG. 3A also shows an administrative (admin) terminal 325 for purposesof entering and modifying inmate calling data, e.g., login, PIN andsimilar data, and for reviewing call records and the like—all as is wellknown. Flexibility afforded administrators in accordance withembodiments of the present invention is realized by virtue of thenetwork connectedness of admin terminal 325. That is, because theterminal can be located at any linked location in data network 220(including VOIP processing portion 225), a central location (or one ormore regional locations) can include admin terminals for editing,reviewing and otherwise processing data accumulated in database 323.

Just as admin terminal 325 may be used at a single location in network220/225, so too may database 323 and telephony switch 320 (and otherfunctional units) also be located at such single network node separatefrom on-site ICS calling locations. Facilities at such single locationmay, nevertheless, provide services (switching, admin, database, andother) for a plurality of ICS calling locations—or all ICS callinglocations in a region or beyond—for which traffic is directed to thatsingle node. Alternatively, some or all of the functions, e.g.,switching or database functions, may be separately located from otherfunctions. That is, a database node in network 220/225 may house onlythe database and related functions, receiving queries, data streams, andcontrol or other messages from throughout a region or an entire network,i.e., the database may be dedicated to a single or limited range offunctions, with other databases performing other required functions. So,too, may a switch be at a location serve an entire network (or a regionor sub-network) solely with regard to switching functions. In othercases, a switch will include sufficient processing power as to permitother particular functions, e.g., word spotting analyses or other speechprocessing functions to be described below. As can be seen, it willoften prove advantageous to group diverse network functions, butsometimes it will prove more advantageously to have distributed, butinterconnected, special-purpose nodes performing only one or a fewfunctions.

In fact, the network architecture shown in FIG. 2 allows distribution offacilities, including switches, routers, databases and all otherfunctional units at locations that are most convenient to the systemoperator or support personnel. That is, because of the interconnectionof VOIP (or other voice over data) functionality shown in FIGS. 2 and3A-C, some or all of the facilities, may be grouped, isolated,replicated or otherwise arranged in data network 220/225. While notrequired, it may prove convenient to include some functionality, e.g.,an admin terminal, 325 at a correctional facility site. This will allowlocal correctional facility administrators to monitor certainoperational details of the network, perhaps relating to call privilegesfor, or calls placed by, particular inmates. FIG. 5 shows an alternativeembodiment that includes such terminal (and FXS gateway functionality,as well) at a correctional facility site. Further, while it will notgenerally be efficient to perform switching and other call setupfunctions at a correctional facility, it may prove convenient to performat least some call recording and related processing at a correctionalfacility for calls that originate at that facility.

Packet network interface 327 in FIG. 3A is an example port or terminalon LAN 310 for connection to another node in data network 220/225—or toanother network, through a gateway if necessary. The nature of thepacket interface will vary depending on the format of data, e.g., IPpackets, and all ports need not be of the same format. That is, IPTS mayroute some packets (or frames, etc.) that arrive in one format and otherpackets that arrive in other formats. As noted above, multi-functionrouters allow for such a variety of port formats and configurations.Many such packet network interfaces will generally be found forconnecting to nodes in data networks 220/225 and nodes external to datanetworks, as appropriate to particular applications and networktopologies.

As has been noted, locations for one or more switches (IPTS 320) orother high-investment or high-maintenance resources are advantageouslylocated at an off-site (from correctional facilities) facility sharedwith a service provider's network control center, or to a PSTN telephonecentral office. Thus, by combining such high investment elements, aservice provider gains the advantage of more readily available access tonetwork critical functionality. Such consolidation of facilitiescompares favorably with availability for maintenance and operationsmonitoring of facilities located wholly or partly on correctionalfacility premises. Service providers thereby require fewer personneland/or less travel time for specialized technicians. This characteristicof present inventive embodiments therefore offers the potential forlowering costs and increasing operational efficiency, while also greatlyexpanding available functionality.

FIG. 3B shows a variation of the illustrative voice processing portionsof data network 220, with the whole cloud in FIG. 3B being referenced as225B. The differences between the clouds of FIG. 3A and FIG. 3Bprincipally relate to the call setup and switching functionalityreflected by IPTS 320 (in FIG. 3A) and VOIP gatekeeper 334 (in FIG. 3B).That is, the elements of 225B in FIG. 3B provide for gatekeeperfunctions, among other functions. IPTS 320 has been discussed above.

Gatekeeper 334 is a control element associated, e.g., with the ITU H.323protocol for multi-media (including voice) network connections. Aspectsof the H.323 protocol provide for receiving requests for connection to acalled party at a gatekeeper such as 334, and having the gatekeeper actto permit exchanging packets with a called party. Gatekeeper 334 will,in some implementations, include a database function—represented byconnected database 353—to provide address translation and othergatekeeper functions. Gatekeeper functions are fully specified in theH.323 standard itself and many commercial implementations of H.323 arereadily available and widely discussed in the literature. See, e.g.,Davidson at Chapter 10, included as Exhibit D-3 in incorporatedprovisional application 1.

Other elements shown in FIG. 3B perform the functions described abovefor corresponding elements in FIG. 3A. In particular, gateways 331 and332 (well known in H.323 multi-media networks and described in severalexhibits included in incorporated provisional application 1) providenetwork-based interfaces to telephone-data-network interface 210 andPSTN 120, respectively.

FIG. 3C shows additional functionalities useful in providing ICS callingand, by illustrative example, shows how call control functionality for aplurality of correctional calling sites can be combined at a singlenetwork-based (off-correctional-facility-site) location. Thus, thefunctionalities included in the cloud of FIG. 3C advantageously combineand expand upon functions of either or both of FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B. InFIG. 3C, the two gateway interfaces 341 and 342, and packet interface363 (and its representative external paths 361-1 thru 361-K to otherdestination(s) in network 220 and elsewhere, as appropriate), switchingand database elements 320 and 323, admin terminal 365, and VOIPgatekeeper 334 (with associated database 353) provide the samefunctionality as corresponding elements in FIGS. 3A and 3B. But FIG. 3Calso includes new functional elements in cloud 360. In particular, theabove-noted network control center that provides overall administrativecontrol, maintenance, and the like for calls from all correctionalfacilities in a region (or for the entire network) is represented bynetwork control 370. While the specific configuration of a network,including use of particular vendor component products, will dictate thetype of network control required, a representative network controlcenter is described in the Cisco document included as Exhibit C-5 inincorporated provisional application 1.

SMDR collection/processing block 362 in FIG. 3C represents the retrieval(e.g., from a plurality of distributed network databases), processingand preparation of data for billing purposes. While such SMDRfunctionality has been used with on-site ICS call setup and controlcomputers in past implementations of ICS processing, use at a centralnetwork (or regional) network node permits ready access and modificationto SMDR records and processing.

FIG. 3C also shows Line Identification Database (LIDB) 366, whichdatabase is typically accessed in the course of setting up a call. Inparticular, checking this database includes checking for the existenceof, and the type of station corresponding to, the called partytelephone. This checking is useful because certain types of called partynumbers, e.g., those corresponding to cellular phones, are generallytreated differently—if calls to such numbers are permitted at all.Traditionally, LIDB database services have been maintained by largecarriers or carrier-support organizations for PSTN calling. See, e.g.,Exhibit V-1 included in incorporated provisional application 1describing LIDB services provided by Verisign, Inc. Embodiments of thepresent invention apply LIDB services to VOIP or other network-basedpacket calling services. Thus, for example, a node in an ICS providernetwork will advantageously include a copy of at least portions of aLIDB database, and will, as needed, seek information from another LIDBdatabase service provider to derive service profile information for acalled subscriber, typically before allowing a call to be completed.Such called party information will typically include 10-digit linenumber, service provider ID, equipment indicator, and billingspecifications. The LIDB information will generally be used indetermining whether to block calls to certain end users, whether toallow collect calls, how to validate account information and the like.

Billing verification block 367 in FIG. 3C refers to operations duringcall setup that relate to verifying that a call being processed is anauthorized call to an authorized called party. Such verificationoperations as validating a calling party (inmate) login or other ID, andan associated password are typically employed prior to allowing a callattempt to be made. In addition, a list of authorized called parties foreach authorized calling party is checked, as are any entries relating toprior difficulties regarding acceptance of calls (or collect calls), orother billing issues. If an attempted call is found to be directed to acalled party that does not wish to accept calls, or if some otherinconsistency appears, then the call may be canceled or special calltreatment invoked. Examples of innovative special treatment under suchcircumstances will be described below. In some cases, it provesconvenient to store previously acceptable billing data, e.g., collectcall acceptances for identified authorized numbers, or validated creditcard information used in processing prior calls. Use of such historicaldata, if the data are reasonably current and its use is not in conflictregulatory or contract provisions, will sometimes prove useful inconsidering approval of current call setup requests.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing illustrative process flows correspondingfor an attempted ICS collect call. There, issuing of voice (played-backrecorded or currently synthesized) prompts by telephony switch 320 or avoice response unit (VRU) under the control of telephony switch 320 (VRUnot shown), direct calling and called party to provide a sequence ofresponses which, if consistent with calling procedures, allow a collectcall to proceed. In particular, following off-hook detection at 402,responses to user (caller) ID and password prompts at 404 and 406 areverified at 408. As described in the section relating to CallerAuthentication, other particular verification techniques may be appliedto authenticate callers in the various embodiments described in thisapplication. If verified, a prompt is issued at 410 and, upon billingverification and, if appropriate, LIDB access, a call is found to beappropriate to complete (subject to acceptance of billing by the calledparty). If the verification process fails, a notice and furtherinstructions (e.g., to redial or try another number, etc.) are desirablyprovided by announcement at 414.

When a call is found to be acceptable (again, subject to paymentapproval) the called party is placed on hold or otherwise disconnected(416) from a call placed to the called number (418). When the callplaced at 418 is answered, an announcement (419) identifies the call asbeing a collect call (or other specially billed call) and (optionally)identifying the caller—as by playing a previously recordedidentification speech segment generated by the calling party. A request(420) is then made to the party answering the call to accept or notaccept charges for the call; if the charges are not accepted, the callis typically terminated. If charges for a call are accepted in responseto the request at 420, then call billing commences and the calling partyis connected to the call. Billing timing is continued until hang-up byeither party is detected.

FIG. 5 shows an alternative illustrative embodiment providinginterconnection of inmate calling center 500 to ICS provider datanetwork facilities 525. In this illustrative embodiment FXS gatewayfunctionality is provided at inmate calling center 500, with selectedfunctional elements previously discussed in connection with FIGS. 2 and3A-3C and shown here as part of ICS network 525, providing connectionsto PSTN 120 via FXO gateway 542. As noted above, ICS provider functionalelements (e.g., IPTS 320 or SMDR Collection and Processing 362) may beco-located in network 525, or one or more of them—or other functionalelements, such as gatekeeper 334 (not shown in FIG. 5), may be locatedelsewhere in network 525. Not shown expressly in FIG. 5 are other nodesin data network 500 that act as intermediate nodes for relaying orprocessing a call from one of the calling telephones 101-i to a party atPSTN called station 160.

Inmate calling facility 500 is shown as including an administrativeterminal 110 to provide limited on-site monitoring or otheradministrative functions, e.g., for updating calling privileges and thelike. As an alternative to, or in addition to, such on-site adminterminal at ICS calling facility 100, it will prove advantageous toinclude one or more network-based admin terminals at nodes in network525. In any event, admin terminals, wherever located, are used tomonitor and enter information for storage and control in network-basedelements such as switches, databases and the like. Likewise, it willprove advantageous to include a network control unit, such as 370 inFIG. 3C, within network 525. Advantageously, such network control 370will concentrate monitoring, overall control and maintenance operationsat one or a few convenient locations.

FIG. 6 shows another alternative embodiment of the present inventionthat differs from that shown in FIG. 5 in that FXO functionality appearswith FXS functionality at one or more correctional institution callingfacilities. This organization again emphasizes that placement ofequipment units at the correctional institution can be minimized, withall call control, billing and other call processing functions located inthe network 625 (part of the overall ICS network). While admin terminal111 is shown as providing access for purposes of selective monitoringand updating as may be arranged between the correctional facility andthe ICS provider, the latter is shown in FIG. 6 as providing call setupand control through access to the calling path(s) at the facilitycalling center. The calling center then interfaces through FXO gateway113 to deliver call content to an illustrative PSTN destination. WhenPSTN involvement is not required, as, for example, when calling to an IPphone of standard design at the called location, then network portion625 will advantageously complete delivery of the call. Billingverification, SMDR collection/processing and LIDB functionality is alsoshown as part of voice processing portion 625.

Indeed, the construct of separating voice processing functions fromother data network functionality is meant only to focus on theparticular elements of data networks that do not routinely occur in manydata networks. In all cases, therefore, it should be understood that thevoice processing (or VOIP processing) portions of the various examplenetworks described herein should be understood to be part of an overalldata network (or network of data networks). The data network(s) mayinclude public and private networks or portions thereof as will beadvantageous in implementing particular applications and services.

FIG. 7 shows yet another illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention in which a plurality (M) of correctional institution callingfacilities, 700-1 through 700-M are shown interconnecting through datanetwork 725 and FXO interface 708 to PSTN 145 to complete ICS calls tocalled telephones like 160 shown in FIG. 7. As further illustration ofscalability of networks and network elements to meet calling demands ofthe several correctional institution calling facilities, network 725 isshown comprising a plurality (L) of IPTS switching units 706-1 through706-L. Each of these switches will have available database facilities,here represented by a common database 510. It will be recognized,however, that each switch 706-i may desirably have an individualdatabase, or some other association of switches with related databasefunctionality may be appropriate. Indeed, none of the switches 706-i,nor associated databases need be co-located with each other.

Not expressly shown in FIG. 7 are the interfaces for connection of thecalling facilities 700-i to data network 725, but illustrative FXSfunctionality may be located at each calling facility 700-i, or anotherinterface, such as a digital (e.g., T1) interface multiplexing voice andsignaling data from one or more of the calling facilities 700-i may beemployed. It is noteworthy that different correctional facilities mayhave widely different calling traffic demands, and so can have differentinterconnecting and interfacing facilities. Thus, for example, largefacilities may connect to data network portion 725 via individualmultiplexed T1 lines, others may employ a multi-port FXS connection todata network 725, and smaller facilities may require only a relativelysmall bandwidth connection, such as may be realized with a DSL link.This differs from current practice where each correctional facility, viaone or more on-site computers requires a number of lines ortrunks—typically one line for each calling telephone.

Efficiencies available through use of voice-over-data network calling innetwork-centric contexts described in the several illustrativeembodiments herein make clear the advantages of the present inventiveteachings. One example: the case of a service provider working withsmaller county jails; no longer does a 2-line correctional facilityrequire the significant capital outlay implicit in using on-site controlcomputers. Only an appropriate link to the ICS provider's network isrequired, as illustrated, for example, in FIG. 7.

Economies of scale using present inventive techniques can also berealized in several other areas, as by combining large numbers of PSTNconnections at a central location through use of negotiable-rate T-1 orT-3 connections, rather than having tens or hundreds of individualanalog lines scattered across a large area. As well, larger IPTSswitches (servers), each servicing many sites can be scaled for optimaltraffic capacity and balancing. Peak capacity management thus becomesmuch simpler and more effective when locations are combined in thismanner. Using present inventive embodiments, each inmate location canhave access to significantly larger headroom capacity (e.g., in terms ofoutbound trunks) available for peak calling times, while the totalexcess, or unused, capacity carried by the provider might actually beless than if each location were managed individually. This efficiencyleads to an increase in call volume capacity with a correspondingdecrease in operating costs.

In many cases, the calling pattern for a particular correctionalfacility may have a large component of local calls. It is possible usingpresent inventive techniques to redirect PSTN calls to higher capacitymultiplexed connections (e.g., T-1 or T-30) reaching destinations havinga scope of local calling that includes or exceeds normal localconnections available at the facility. In short, the provider may takeadvantage of placing low cost local calls thereby improving margins andreducing overall costs.

Similarly, through the use of strategically located PSTN connection hubsor nodes across a much wider geographic area, such as one node per LATA(or state), the provider may link these connections together viabroadband Ethernet or other data transport method and route calls fromone area into another for PSTN connection. This allows the provider torealize the benefit of lower cost inter-area data links, then tocomplete a local call in the call destination area, thereby reducing thecost of a long-distance call.

For example, if an inmate in city X wishes to place an interlata call tocity Y, the provider may route this call from the inmate facility into acentral office in city X (e.g., via a FXS gateway and broadbandEthernet), and then transport the call (e.g., via broadband Ethernet) toa remotely located FXO gateway to the PSTN at a location that includescity Y in its local calling plan. This call transport and deliveryallows an inter-LATA call to be completed with no per-call usagecharges. This and other applications of reduced-cost routing will resultin substantial overall cost savings.

FIG. 10 shows a modification of the prior art system of FIG. 1 in whichthe control computer 110 for managing telephone calls at thecorrectional facility (in FIG. 1) is relocated to an off-site locationin the vicinity of the correctional facility, e.g., a local telephonecompany central office, where it then connects to the rest of the PSTN.While a telephone company central office is noted, other particularsecure off-site locations will be appropriate in particular cases.

The location of a computer at a location that is not on correctionalfacility premises, but connect to the calling center of the correctionalfacility, offers significant potential advantages relative to existingPSTN connections, especially when the computer acts as a remote relay toan ICS network, such as 225 and 220 in FIG. 2. Thus, for example, byhaving the link 116 from calling center LAN 117 shown in FIG. 5terminate in a switch, such as a simplified IPTS 320 in FIG. 5 (or in arouter or other communication device), call setup, billing and otherfunctions included in network portion 525 can be removed to a central orregional location such as 725 in FIG. 7. Thus, in effect, an off-sitecomputer can function in the manner of supplying inputs such as 700-i inFIG. 7. Such an arrangement is an application of principles of thepresent invention described above relating to functionality in a cloud(such as 525 in FIG. 5). These principles support optimal distributionof linked network resources. Thus, only an IPTS (or a simplercommunicating equivalent) is needed at an off-site location forcommunication with efficiently distributed call setup, billing, calltransport and other ICS network resources shown in other embodiments ofthe present invention.

Enhanced Validation

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a billed number validation process,including an optional free call feature, performed at a billingverification server, such as 365 in FIG. 7 in cooperation with one ofIPTS 706-i, such as IPTS 706-1, and other functional units at one ormore network nodes such as 725 in FIG. 7. It will be recognized thatfacilities for performing the functions shown in FIG. 11 need not all belocated at a common node, such as 725 in FIG. 7. In particular, it willbe recognized that the VoIP network systems and processing describedherein may advantageously be performed at a number of separated networklocations. For example, the announcement functions referred to in FIG.11 and elsewhere in this description may advantageously be realizedusing an IPTS computer appropriately programmed to include thefunctionality of one or more announcement servers, which servers may belocated at locations serving the overall efficiency of the ICS networkand parties connected to that network.

Turning then to FIG. 11, call processing starts at 1100 with thedetection of an off-hook condition for a particular calling station whenthe response at decision block 1102 is YES. As with the processdescribed in connection with FIG. 7, a number of preliminary steps aredesirably performed before a call actually gets underway—here at steps1104, 1106, 1108- to authenticate the calling party. When a desiredcalled party number is entered in response to the prompt at 1110 andfound to not be on a list of disallowed numbers, the calling party isplaced in an on-hold condition—not connected to any called partydestination—but available to receive inputs from the system. If thecalled number is found to not be allowed a prompt is given at 1114 tothe caller and a prompt for another number is provided to the callingparty.

While the calling party is on hold, the system advantageously conducts abilled party (typically the called party) validation sub-processbeginning at optional step 1140. In FIG. 11, optional steps includethose represented by broken-line boxes or other broken-line objects.Step 1140 is indicated as optional because not every (or any) localvalidation may be performed in placing ICS calls. It may proveadvantageous in some circumstances, however, for an ICS provider tomaintain a local database of information about some lines, as, forexample, regarding past credit history in dealing with the ICSprovider—or any of a large variety of data that might affect thelikelihood that a call sought to be billed to that line will be paidfor. Many lines may have little or no information in the localvalidation database. Such a local database may be included in database510 shown in FIG. 7 or may be elsewhere in the network of FIG. 7, butaccessible as required. Such a local database may be private to aparticular ICS provider, or may be accessible by other providers,including non-ICS service providers.

Generally, a local validation database used in performing step 1140 inFIG. 11 is a so-called negative database because it provides informationthat can potentially be interpreted as disqualifying a line from havingan ICS (or other) call billed to it. It is advantageous, however, toallow a service provider to interpret data retrieved from any validationdatabase in a manner determined by the provider under the circumstances.Thus, data retrieved by one provider may be deemed sufficient to refuseto complete a call, while another provider may make a different decisionbased on the same data.

In the case of the validation sub-process of FIG. 11, a test is made atstep 1142 to determine if the proposed billed number is not valid (theaforementioned negative database information), i.e., whether sufficientissues are raised that payment for billing can not be reasonablyassured. If the answer is YES at step 1142, corresponding to adetermination that the local database information for the proposedbilled line does not indicate a likelihood that that billed charges willbe not be paid, then the process illustratively continues to the networkvalidation of the called number at step 1144. However, it should benoted that step 1144 is also indicated as optional. This optionalcharacteristic may include an option as to when, if ever, such a networkvalidation (previously referred to collectively as a LIDB database dip)might occur. More will be said about this below.

Returning to step 1142, and in particular the branching resulting from aNO determination at that step, it will be seen that a follow-ondetermination referred to as a first call determination is made at step1146. For purposes of this description, first call may relate to anumber of possible circumstances. Generally, though, it is descriptiveof a case where a particular calling party is seeking to call aparticular called party for the first time while seeking to have thecalled party pay for the call. First call may, be deemed by an ICSprovider to include the first time these circumstances have arisen for apre-determined period of time, or the first time they may have arisensince the occurrence of a particular event—such as a prior release ofthe calling party from incarceration or other such conditions. Further,the reason that a test at step 1142 might yield a NO response is thatthe called party may have moved or otherwise caused a change in his/herline number or service provider in the recent past—so that data in thelocal database may be in transition. These and other conditions can bedeemed by an ICS provider to give rise to a first call determination,but, absent easily recognizable or defined exceptions, a first call willinclude exactly one call to a particular called party identified with aparticular called number. The feature may be allowed to extend to morethan one called party, but, consistent with the goals of the presentinventive feature, limits may be placed on the number of first calls atthe discretion of the ICS provider.

As will be noted in FIG. 11, a YES determination at step 1146 (the callis a first call) results in the placement of the call to the calledparty number. But prior to allowing the conversation to begin betweenthe calling and called parties, an announcement is made to at least thecalled party (but advantageously to both calling and called parties) tothe following effect:

-   -   This is a collect call placed by (Name of Calling Party) placed        at (Correctional Facility). Issues have arisen regarding the        payment for this call, so the service provider has decided to        allow this call to proceed for (minutes, N being determined by        the ICS provider) free of charge to either party to the call. I        repeat this is a free call. Nevertheless, a representative of        (the ICS provider) will contact the called party at the end of        the (N minute) call to arrange for payment of future calls. No        free calls can be expected in the future.

Call processing continues at step 1120 and 1122 to allow the calledparty to refuse the call, notwithstanding its no-charge character. Ifthe call is accepted, then call timing is commenced at step 1126,otherwise the call is terminated as shown at step 1125. If the call iscompleted by a hang-up, or if the allotted free period of N minutesexpires, the call is over and a connection is made at step 1160 betweenthe called party and a representative (e.g., a customer servicerepresentative, CSR) of the ICS provider. When that discussion iscomplete the process ends at step 1164.

For purposes of the present invention, the first call feature seeks,among other things, to avoid discouraging necessary or appropriate callsfrom inmates, provides an opportunity for an inmate to advise others asto his/her changed circumstances as an inmate and otherwise promote thewell being of the inmate caller while avoiding abuse of ICS callingfacilities. Thus, if a called number is found to be not not-invalid(i.e., it is found to be invalid) at step 1142, and it is found at step1146 not to be a first call (as defined for the particular circumstancesrecognized by the ICS provider), then the call will be ended as shown atstep 1124. In appropriate cases, a NO decision at step 1146 can cause aredirection of caller action by an announcement such as that provided atstep 1114, or by the action of connecting to a Customer ServiceRepresentative (CSR) of the ICS provider under particular circumstancesdetermined by the ICS provider.

If the test at step 1142 indicates that the local validation process at1140 produced a YES determination at step 1142, then the optionalnetwork validation of the called number (LIDB dip) may be performed. Aswith the local validation at step 1140 and the determination at 1142, aYES-NO decision results at decision block step 1148. There, a NOdecision indicates that sufficient issues about the likelihood that thecalled line number will result in payment of the charges for the callthat, in the judgment of the ICS provider, the call would normally berefused. In accordance with this feature of the invention, however, afirst call test is made at step 1162 and if a YES determination is madethere, the processing is continued at step 1174 or step 1175 to acompletion at step 1175 or 1164, respectively.

If the called number is found to be not invalid upon a local validation(YES at step 1142) and valid upon a network validation (YES at step1148), then the call is placed at step 1168 and an announcement aboutthe nature of the call (collect call) and the calling party at step1169. No first call determination is needed or appropriate in this case.Call processing is completed by way of steps 1120-1126 (only hang-up isrelevant at step 1126 for this case) and step 1160 is not needed.

As noted above, either or both of the local validation 1140 or networkvalidation 1144 is optional—with regard to the time of their occurrenceor whether they occur at all.

Thus, if a free first call is to be granted, there is no need todetermine if the call is likely to be paid for. Instead, the granting ofa free first call may engender sufficient good will as to tend toencourage a party not presently inclined to accept charges toreconsider. In particular, if BNS would otherwise cause a call to beblocked, it might encourage a called party to make an exception for ICScalls, or at least to consider such calls subject to non-acceptance,e.g., as provided by the prompt and response at steps 1120 and 1122 inFIG. 11.

Further, when validation, especially network validation, is to beperformed, the present invention provides enhanced cost controlcommensurate with the risk an ICS provider is willing to assume underparticular circumstances. Thus, either or both (or neither) theindicated local and network validations steps can be accomplished beforea call is placed, while ringing is occurring, when the call is answeredby a person, when the call is answered by other than a person (e.g., bya computer, fax machine, answering machine, etc.), when answered by aperson who responds within a prescribed period after call pick-up (orend of ringback), during a prompt (such as that indicated at step 1169or 1120), at a time after acceptance (YES at step 1122) but beforehang-up, after hang-up, or never. It will be appreciated that thediscussion of validation (either local or network) need not be limitedto a particular negative database or to the well-known LIDB database,but to the use any source of validation data. Decision criteria employedby an ICS carrier will advantageously be subject to change, and maydepend in any aspect, based on information in local validation step 1140or on any particular information available to the ICS carrier abouteither the caller or the called party (or the proposed billed party ifthat is different from the called party).

FIG. 12, in part, illustrates an extension of the arrangements shown inthe inventive embodiment of FIG. 10. In FIG. 12, the network cloudincludes much of the functionality of FIGS. 3A-3C, but also includes ananalog interface to a correctional facility. Thus, lines 328-1 through328-N in FIG. 12 are shown as analog lines directly connected to acorrectional facility calling center, such as 200 in FIG. 2 where FXSfunctionality has not been applied to the analog voice and supervisionsignals from telephones such as 201-i. (As noted above, considerableflexibility is available in presenting call signals—in analog or digitalform—from the facility call center.) These incoming analog lines areshown in FIG. 12 being concentrated in multiplexer 329 and coded, e.g.,to PCM or other suitable form in coder 326 before being presented togateway 321, where they will normally be packetized as described abovein connection with FIG. 2 or FIGS. 3A-C.

Once processed through gateway 321 the voice signals are insubstantially the same form as when processed a telephone-data networkinterface 210 having included FXS and packetizing functionality. Inparticular, these speech (and related signaling) signals are presentedin Ethernet or other packet form for possible subsequent furtherformatting in IP packet format for transmission over the Internet orother IP network. While in packet form in network arrangement 1225 inFIG. 12, which arrangement may be distributed over a plurality ofnetworked nodes, IPTS 320 will advantageously direct voice packets fordelivery through packet network(s) via illustrative packet interface 311under the control of signaling information associated with voice packetsequences and with information stored in database 323. Packets providedat interface 311 may be decoded, e.g., by decoder 348 for delivery to adestination digital phone 349. Gateway 343 in FIG. 12 provides theinterface to the PSTN as in FIG. 3C. Other aspects of the arrangement ofFIG. 12 will be described below.

An illustrative embodiment of the present invention will now bedescribed with initial reference to FIG. 8. The illustrative embodimentshown there is based on Intel's Host Media Processing (HMP) software. Inone aspect, HMP seeks to provide software-only processing of voice andsignaling information using general purpose computing platforms. In FIG.8, an HMP-based platform is shown as media server 810 interfaced withthe Internet or other data network of the types described above inillustrative embodiments of the present invention. This HMP-basedplatform, in addition to the Intel HMP software is an Intel processorcomputer running Microsoft Windows®. More complete equipment andenvironment software requirements are provided in literature that isgenerally available from the vendor.

Thus, for example, for an overall view of, and a full range of userinformation available from Intel for the HMP platform, see:

Intel® Netstructure™ Host Media Processing Software Release 1.1 for theWindows® Operating System included as Exhibit I-3 in incorporatedprovisional application 1;

Intel white paper: “Next-Generation Media Processing for the ModularNetwork, included as Exhibit I-4 in incorporated provisional application1.

Also of interest for implementations of HMP:

Intel's “Host Media Processing for Windows Operating Systems ReferenceDesign Guide,” included as Exhibit I-5 in incorporated provisionalapplication 1;

“Intel NetStructure Host Media Processing Software Release 1.1 forWindows Technical Specifications,” included as Exhibit I-6 inincorporated provisional application 1.

“Intel NetStructure Host Media Processing Software Release 1.1 FeaturePack 1 for Windows Release Notes,” included as Exhibit I-7 inincorporated provisional application 1;

“Intel NetStructure Host Media Processing Software Release 1.1 FeaturePack 1 for Windows—Installation Guide,” included as Exhibit I-8 inincorporated provisional application 1;

“Intel SNMP Agent Software for Intel NetStructure Host Media ProcessingSoftware for Windows—Administration Guide (September, 2003) included asExhibit I-9 in incorporated provisional application 1;

“Intel Global Call API for Linux and Windows Operating Systems—LibraryReference (September 2003);

“Intel Global Call API for Windows Operating Systems—Programming Guide”(September 2003);

“Intel Global Call IP for Host Media Processing—Technology Guide”(September 2003);

“Intel IP Media Library API for Host Media Processing—Library Reference”(April 2004);

“Intel IP Media Library API for Host Media Processing—ProgrammingGuide,” (April 2004);

“Voice Software Reference: Features Guide for Windows,”;

“Voice Software Reference: Programmer's Guide for Windows,”;

“Voice Software Reference: Standard Runtime Library for Windows,”; and

“DM3 Diagnostic Utilities—Reference Guide,”.

Each of these HMP cited references, and all Exhibits included inincorporated provisional application 1 are hereby incorporated in thisapplication by reference, and by virtue of being exhibits in, andforming part of, incorporated provisional application 1.

FIG. 9 is a representation of HMP software programming interfaces,collectively shown as 900 in FIG. 9, which is based on FIG. 3 of ExhibitI-4 included in incorporated provisional application 1. Such programminginterfaces and underlying associated resources execute on media server810 in FIG. 8 while interfacing with applications software to achievethe connection, control and other functions described in the presentapplication. FIGS. 2-7 and FIGS. 10-18 show functionality that implementfunctions that are implemented using such HMP software in cooperationwith applications software. In particular, the switching functions ofIPTS 320 in FIGS. 3A-C, and other figures, are advantageously performedby HMP software in media server 810.

As is reflected in the several Intel HMP Exhibits included inincorporated provisional application 1, and in Alliance Systems Exhibitsincluded in incorporated provisional application 1, speech-enabled mediaserver applications—including VOIP—are achieved, e.g., in theillustrative HMP Starter Kit implementation described below. Further, toadapt existing VOIP and related speech applications to perform ICSfunctionality in accordance with the present invention, it provesadvantageous to employ the several programming tools that are madeavailable for use with the HMP software, which programming tools aredescribed in the above-cited Intel documents, including those appearingas Exhibits included in incorporated provisional application 1 formingpart of this application.

In one realization of the system of FIGS. 8 and 9, a pre-defined “HMPStarter Kit” designed and validated by Alliance Systems Ltd. providesfor media server and gateway functionality corresponding to media server810 in FIG. 8 and IP media gateway functionality for connectingcorrectional facility calling center 200 to data network 220, via a link820 to media server 810. See Exhibit AC-6 included in incorporatedprovisional application 1. Media server 810 in the Allianceconfigurations may assume the form of any of the Alliance serveroptions: V-1000 (single Intel Pentium 4 at 2.4 GHz), I-1000R2 (SingleIntel Xeon at 2.8 GHz with Hyper-Threading), or I-2000R3 (Dual IntelXeon at 2.8 GHz). Intel's HMP Software is, however, designed to operateon a wide range of standard hardware/software platforms as described,for example, in Exhibit I-7 (at pp. 15-17) included in incorporatedprovisional application 1.

Gateway functionality in the Alliance Systems HMP Starter Kit for use inthe network arrangement of FIG. 8 between analog telephones atcorrectional facility calling location 200 and data network 220(including media server 810) may include any of AudioCodes MP-102,MP-104, MP-108, and MP-124. FXO functionality between data network 220and PSTN, represented as gateway 222 in FIG. 8, will advantageously beimplemented as AudioCodes MP-104 or MP-108 gateways to accommodateloop-start PSTN lines. In other particular configurations differentgateways may be used.

As will become clear in the following descriptions, it is advantageousin realizing additional features and functions related to ICS thatcertain additional software, such as word-spotting speech recognitionsoftware and speaker verification software be integrated with systemssuch as that shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. In the sequel, examples ofcommercially available software suitable for integration with the callcontrol, existing caller authentication functionality, billing and othercomponent functions used in processing ICS calls will be described.

As one example, a flow call model that is readily coded using theprogramming tools noted above for execution on the media server 810 inFIG. 8 is provided in the following illustrative Call Flow for an ICScalling context.

Illustrative Call Flow

-   Caller takes station off hook. IPTS receives signal from inbound    (FXS) IP gateway identifying which station is off hook and begins    call processing.-   Call detail record is created in local database to store call    information for later retrieval.-   Audio recording file of call is created on local hard drive for    investigative and/or diagnostic use.-   IPTS checks for available outbound trunk    -   Outbound (FXO) IP gateway is polled to determine if available        port exists        -   If available port exists, IPTS reserves it (makes            unavailable to other calls)        -   If no trunk available, “fast busy” is played back to caller,            call is aborted.-   IPTS prompts for language choice & stores selection in memory    -   All subsequent prompts (to both calling and called parties) are        played back in selected language-   IPTS prompts for PIN # and verifies caller using voice biometrics    (e.g., speaker verification software such as VoiceCheck™ software by    VoiceVantage, Inc.—see www.voicevantage.com-   IPTS prompts for call type choice (debit/collect) & stores selection-   If Collect Call is chosen:    -   IPTS prompts for phone number to call, stores selection    -   IPTS performs verification of number to call        -   Number formatted correctly (valid NpaNxx+Line)            -   If incorrect format, play message indicating so &                re-prompt for number (1 retry, then terminate call if                fail on 2^(nd) attempt)        -   Continental U.S. only for collect calls (in some cases)            -   If not continental U.S., play message indicating collect                calls can only be completed to U.S. numbers        -   Number checked (via IP data communication with central            office) against intra-company database of numbers to be            blocked due to customer requests or for billing reasons (no            billing agreement with LEC, number unable to accept collect            calls, delinquent account or prior bad debt losses, etc.);            this number check will typically include a LIDB dip            -   If number is denied, play message to caller indicating                reason                -   If reason is due to no billing agreement or unable                    to accept collect calls, offer caller option of                    switching to debit billing. If debit billing is                    chosen, resume call steps in debit process                -    If debit billing is not chosen, IPTS may contact                    customer to inform that caller “x” is attempting to                    contact them via collect call & offer to transfer                    via VOIP to a service provider CSR to set up an                    alternative collect call billing account; IPTS may                    also be configured to continue processing and offer                    called party a one-time-only abbreviated call at no                    charge, after which the called party will be                    connected to CSR to establish billing account for                    future calls—a so-called First Call feature.        -   Number is checked against local database of “hot” numbers            for which inmate facility has requested notification upon            calling            -   If number is in database, perform one of the following:                -   Notify via pager                -   Notify via email                -    Email optionally includes URL link to mp3-formatted                    recording of conversation. Clicking link will begin                    playback of recording. Email will be sent upon                    completion of call.                -    Email optionally includes file attachment of                    mp3-formatted recording of conversation. Email will                    be sent upon completion of call.                -   Connect to a pre-determined monitoring station                    (could be via PSTN or could be via IP network to SIP                    client) for the purpose of allowing an investigator                    to silently monitor an ongoing conversation or,                    alternatively, to interrupt and/or terminate the                    call        -   Number is checked against local database of “privileged”            numbers for which recording is not permitted (attorneys,            etc.)            -   If number is in database, recording of call is                terminated and word spotting processes are prevented                from activating.        -   Number is checked against local database of free numbers            (bail bondsmen, public defenders, etc.)            -   If number is in database, collect call billing is not                performed and status is stored to memory in order to                omit “collect” message from prompts upon answering of                call    -   IPTS takes instructs IP gateway to take trunk off-hook and dials        number to be called via 1+, 101xxx, or other direct-dial method    -   If called party answers, IPTS plays announcement and prompts for        acceptance of collect (if free call status has not been set).        Also offers choice to press distinct digits for rate quote,        number-blocking, and transfer via VOIP to a service provider        CSR. If abbreviated, introductory call due to lack of billing        means is being offered, announcement is played to alert called        party to that effect.        -   If no answer, busy, or answering machine is detected, call            is terminated        -   If called party selects rate quote option, rate quote is            given for this call, as well as for alternate charges for            day/evening/night rates, then customer is re-prompted for            acceptance of call, etc.        -   If called party selects number-blocking option, number is            added to intra-company database of customer-requested            blocked numbers, message is played to calling party            indicating the call was not accepted, and the call is            terminated    -   Upon acceptance of charges, station port is bridged to trunk        port to complete call. If applicable, keyword spotting        techniques may be initiated to detect the presence of certain        words or phrases spoken in the conversation.    -   Once call is bridged, call timer is started.        -   Call is terminated, and station & trunk IP gateway ports are            reset once call timer reaches (variable) maximum duration,            or either party hangs up.            -   Optional email sent for calls to hot number list                (detailed above)-   If Debit Call is chosen:    -   IPTS prompts for phone number to call, stores selection    -   IPTS performs verification of number to call        -   Number formatted correctly (international calls are valid            for debit)            -   If incorrect format, play message indicating so &                re-prompt for number (1 retry, then terminate call if                fail on 2^(nd) attempt)        -   Number checked (via IP data communication with central            office) against intra-company database of numbers to be            blocked due to customer requests            -   If number is denied, play message to caller indicating                reason        -   Number is checked against local database of “hot” numbers            for which inmate facility has requested notification upon            calling            -   If number is in database, perform one of the following:                -   Notify via pager                -   Notify via email                -    Email optionally includes URL link to mp3-formatted                    recording of conversation. Clicking link will begin                    playback of recording. Email will be sent upon                    completion of call.                -    Email optionally includes file attachment of                    mp3-formatted recording of conversation. Email will                    be sent upon completion of call.        -   Connect to a pre-determined monitoring station (could be            PSTN or could be via IP network to SIP client) for the            purpose of allowing an investigator to silently monitor an            ongoing conversation or, alternatively, to interrupt and/or            terminate the call.        -   Caller is prompted for PIN # identifying debit account to be            charged            -   PIN # is authenticated against local database and                balance information is retrieved            -   Balance remaining on debit account is played back to                caller        -   Number is checked against local database of “privileged”            numbers for which recording is not permitted (attorneys,            etc.)            -   If number is in database, recording of call is                terminated and word spotting processes are prevented                from activating        -   Number is checked against local database of free numbers            (bail bondsmen, public defenders, etc.)            -   If number is in database, debit billing is not performed                and status is stored to memory in order to omit                “collect” message from prompts upon answering of call            -   Caller is informed that this is a free call    -   IPTS takes trunk off-hook and dials number to be called via 1+,        101xxx, 011, or other direct-dial method    -   If called party answers, IPTS plays announcement and prompts for        acceptance of call (message indicates that this is a prepaid        call and charges do not apply to the called party). Also offers        choice to press distinct digits for number-blocking or transfer        via VOIP to a service provider CSR.        -   If no answer, busy, or answering machine is detected, call            is terminated        -   If called party selects number-blocking option, number is            added to intra-company database of customer-requested            blocked numbers, message is played to calling party            indicating the call was not accepted, and the call is            terminated    -   Upon acceptance of the call, station port is bridged to trunk        port to complete call. If applicable, keyword spotting        techniques may be initiated to detect the presence of certain        words or phrases spoken in the conversation.    -   Once call is bridged, call timer is started.        -   Call is terminated, and station & trunk IP gateway ports are            reset once call timer reaches (variable) maximum duration,            or either party hangs up.

Optional email sent for calls to hot number list (detailed above)

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), Including Word Spotting

As noted above, emphasis in prior monitoring and recording operations inICS has been maintained as an on-site function at the correctionalfacility. When speech recognition is used to identify particular spokenwords or phrases in inmate calls, the recognition, and any searchesbased on such recognition has likewise been maintained at thecorrectional facility at which the speech was communicated to or from aninmate. Because of limited power and flexibility of control computerstypically involved in providing ICS at correctional facilities speechrecognition functions, including word spotting operations, has beenlimited.

Speech recognition functionality deployed in such prior correctionalfacility locations has typically been based on digitized speechgenerated and stored in real time as the inmate conversation is takingplace. While some compression of speech may be used for some purposes,uncompressed digitized speech (and speech parameters derived from suchspeech) is typically used for ASR operations. In particular, variousspeech compression techniques, well known in VoIP, cellular and othervoice communications applications have not heretofore been applied tospeech recognition in these prior analog PSTN ICS network contexts.

FIG. 12 presents a voice processing arrangement 1225 for performing thejoint function of telephone-data network interface 210 and various VoIPprocessing functions represented as 225 in FIG. 2 and in variousalternative arrangements in FIGS. 3A-C. Analog line interfacing in themanner of FIG. 12 has been described above. It will be understood fromthe preceding discussion of ICS data network organization that thearrangement of FIG. 12 will in some cases be distributed over aplurality of networked nodes.

It proves advantageous to include illustrative automatic speechrecognition functionality in the arrangement of FIG. 12. This ispresented in the form of ASR parameter extraction unit 354 and ASR unit342. Parameter extraction unit functions in any of several well-knownconfigurations to extract useful parameter values from speech packetsavailable on LAN 310. Such packets will also be identified in standardvoice packet manner as to particular sessions, with identified sourceand destination packet addresses. Parameter extraction proves useful inestablishing the necessary correlation with ASR models and associatedreference data to allow the content of speech packets to be recognized.

An application of ASR processing that proves to be particularly usefulin the high volume context of VoIP communications, and even moreparticularly in the context of ICS is known as word spotting. Wordspotting limits its recognition purview to a selected subset of allspeech (selected words and phrases) having relevance in a particularcontext. Thus, for example, in ICS contexts, it proves particularlyuseful to monitor conversations for words or phrases that could haverelevance to crimes or other public safety concerns.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary association of a switch 1321 (such asIPTS 320 in FIG. 12) being monitored at some or all of its ports bynetwork monitor 1340, and receiving inputs from network console 1335 (oradmin terminal 325 in FIG. 12) to direct certain of its operatingfeatures. Among these features is the well-known port-spanning orport-mirroring technique for selectively or universally directingtraffic appearing at ports of the switch to designated networklocations.

In the present illustrative use, switch 1321, in response to ASR featureextraction unit 1345 and ASR unit 1360 determining that one or more wordspotting target words or phrases has been detected at a port of switch1321, diverts or copies the data stream associated with that port to apredetermined recording and/or transmission node 1325. In typicaloperation, then, speech from a conversation causing a word spottingindication to appear at a port of switch 1321 is illustratively sent tonode 1325 for recording, selective monitoring and selective furtherretransmission to one or more predetermined location(s). As an example,if a conversation being monitored at switch 1321 is found to includepotentially offending words or phrases relating to the plotting of acrime, then the call will be forwarded to one or more responsiblecorrections or law enforcement officials for further action. Inaddition, such a call will also be stored (if it had not already beensubject to recording) and flagged for future retrieval. Thus, if a lawenforcement officer is informed of the ongoing call sometime after ithas begun, that officer can request a subsequent playback of any missedportion of the recorded call. The present invention also provides inappropriate cases for the playback of previous calls associated with aparticular PIN or called party identification.

FIG. 14 shows an extension of the application of word spotting describedin connection with FIGS. 12 and 13. In FIG. 14, an inmate at anoriginating telephone at an inmate calling center, such as 200 in FIG.2, is participating in an on-going inmate call to a destination 1402 byway of A/D converter 1402, packetizer 1410, compression (coder) 1415,WAN 1400, gateway 1430 and PSTN 1435. Illustratively, this call is beingrecorded, either because all calls are routinely recorded, or becausecall setup information, such as caller identification information,called party identification, or both, prompted a query toprofile/criteria data base 1450 for directions on monitoring and/orrecording the call. Other criteria may include the occurrence of eventsthat are possibly linked to one or more call parties, timing relativeother events—such as known criminal activity, or other relevant facts orsuspicions.

In accordance with a feature of this embodiment of the presentinvention, it proves advantageous to provide analog-to-digitalconversion at a sufficient sampling rate and quantizing granularity toprovide high quality sampled speech that will be intelligible afterdigital recording and, especially, communicated over a transmissionmedium that suffers any of a variety of impairments.

For most voice telephony work, an 8 kHZ sampling rate, with each samplequantized to one of 2⁸=256 PCM (pulse code modulation) levels is usuallyconsidered high quality audio. Storage requirements for such digitaloutput, though, are also high—64 kbits/sec. Using one of a variety ofITU-T standard compression schemes, the quality can be improved for agiven bit storage rate, or a given quality can be assured using fewerbits/sec. It can be readily shown that an ITU-T μ-law coding with μ=255provides, for an 8-bit sample, a dynamic range associated with a 12-bitPCM encoding. In all cases, the trade-off of storage requirements andquality of a stored voice signal is a system design choice.

In any event, it proves desirable to initially retain a high quality (asinterpreted for overall system design) digital voice recording of aconversation that is likely to be of real-time or future importance.This is advantageously reflected by the use of temporary localhigh-quality storage unit 1403. Temporary implies a maximum time forstorage of a high-quality voice signal—another design choice based oncost, extent of use and other factors. Recordings of conversations areaccompanied in store 1403 by call identifying data, such as callingparty ID number (and calling number, if applicable), calling location,time of day, day of week, date, called number, and any other criteriadeemed relevant or as may be specified by profile information fromdatabase 1450.

The contents of store 1403 are, in accordance with present inventivetechniques, subject to 1^(st) level keyword spotting by unit 1425 inFIG. 14. With a high quality voice signal and a reasonable number of keywords (including phrases) identified for spotting, the word spotter 1425can achieve a relatively high level of success in spotting the wordsidentified in a default word profile, or a call participant-specificword profile provided by profile/criteria database 1450.

Upon spotting of profile identified key words (and/or phrases), key wordspotter 1425 advantageously adds identifying data, e.g. a flag value,indicating the finding of key words for a particular segment of aparticular conversation stored in an identified position in store 1403.The urgency or importance of the key word finding is advantageouslyquantified, as by a flag value of 5 for highest interest or priority to1 for lowest level of priority. This flag value, is typically assignedby the currently applicable profile for the conversation.

Thus, for example, if a police agency is seeking information about apossible near future crime, and if an inmate is thought to be privy toinformation relating to time, place or other such information of thatcrime, they will typically assign a high priority and will supply anumber of key words thought to be related to the suspected imminentcrime. Some key words may be thought to be especially significant andurgent; these would likely be assigned the highest flag value(illustratively, 5). Other key words, though potentially important,might have lower immediate value. These key words would be assigned asomewhat lower value, e.g., a flag value of 4. Other key words would beassigned lower values. It also proves advantageous to also include astandard or default set of keywords that might not be necessarilyrelated to a specific event, but which might have strategic long-terminterest. A separate flag value, illustratively 0, might be assigned tosuch key words.

When a flag of a specified value is set for a particular call, orparticular called party, or other specific call characteristic, amessage is sent from key word spotter 1425 through WAN 1400 tocentral/regional switch 1440 from which follow-up action, if any, isoriginated. Switch 1440 will illustratively assume the form of IPTS 320in FIG. 3A or 3C, and will evaluate the flag and any further informationin profile/criteria database 1450. Such additional data will inappropriate cases include instructions to notify a particular person oroffice, e.g., a police patrol officer or detective, represented aspolice vehicle 1490 in FIG. 14 through a police communications center1480. In other cases, instructions may indicate that the policecommunications center 1480 be notified to pursue some other action.Other actions directed by a value for a flag signal value and/or othercriteria will include notifying a real-time monitoring station, such asone of stations 1475-i. The additional information will, in particularcases, include instructions to maintain selected calls, typically thosewith specific call profiles or those with high flag values, for a longerperiod of time, instead of suffering irreversible compression, as bycompression unit 1415.

When the specified short term storage period for all or selected callsexpires, the recordings for these calls is advantageously supplied tocompression unit 1415 to render their file size of an acceptable value,thence to switch 1440. At switch 1440, the recorded conversation,including any flags and call identification data, is passed tocentral/regional long-term storage control 1460 for storage in callstore 1445 and selective further processing in one or more of indexer1465, audio miner 1470 and second-level keyword spotter.

Indexer 1465 provides indexing for recorded calls, illustratively incooperation with word spotter 1455. Thus, word spotter 1455 performsword spotting on each or select recorded calls in accordance with adefault key word list, or a call, caller, called party, time-specific orother call parameter-specific key word list. Thus if an event occurredat a specific time and authorities seek to learn what inmates might knowabout that event, a time-specific-event-specific key word list may beprepared and used to index the now less than high-quality callrecordings for the relevant span of time. The results of this key wordspotting are then indexed by indexer 1465 and made available forsearching locally, e.g., at a monitoring station 1475-i, or anywhere onthe ICS provider network via an admin terminal.

In addition to key word spotting-based indexing, recorded calls storedin call store 1445 can be selectively subjected to audio mining as byaudio miner 1470. Audio miner 1470 can take any of a variety of forms,including those described in N. Leavitt, “Let's Hear it for AudioMining,” Computer, October, 2002, pp. 23-25. A commercial audio miningsoftware development kit is available from Scansoft (now NuanceCommunications, Inc.). This Scansoft AudioMining Development Systemprovides the capability to extract spoken word content from, among othersources, telephony speech recordings. In doing so, it catalogs speechcontent, including telephony speech content. It can employ customvocabularies for specific contexts. Another commercial offering foranalyzing telephone call content is known as CallMiner. As with key wordspotting-based indexing results of audio mining are made available forretrieval at a monitoring stations, such as the 1475-i in FIG. 14 oranywhere on the ICS provider network via an admin terminal.

Three-Way Call Detection and Prevention

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating operations useful in an embodimentof the present invention that provides enhanced detection and treatmentfor suspected unauthorized 3-way calling attempts in ongoing calls thatemploy VoIP and other data networking technologies, in accordance withthe present application. However, though the operations shown in FIG. 15are advantageously carried out in the context of the described VoIPsystems, including systems of incorporated patent application 1,particular embodiments of the methods of FIG. 15 may also be practicedin prior art inmate calling systems, including those of the type shownin FIG. 1. Thus, the inventive methods of FIG. 15 provide improvementsto such prior art systems.

Turning then to the flowchart of FIG. 15, block 1500 indicates that aninmate call is to be established by one of the techniques describedabove or in other VOIP-based telephone systems. For purposes to beelaborated below, it often proves advantageous to perform optional step1501 in FIG. 15, which step is shown in broken line format to identifythat step as optional. Step 1501 includes recording at least a portionof the speech present on the call established at step 300, andextracting signal parameters or other characterizing elements of thespeech of each party to the conversation. Often, such parameterextraction involves performing frequency analysis such as cepstralanalysis, linear predictive coding analysis or other well-known analysesthat enable one to make comparisons of the speech of one speaker(illustratively a reference speaker) with the speech of another speaker(illustratively a test speaker). For present descriptive purposes, thespeech captured and parameterized at step 301 is to be consideredreference speech. This speech will prove useful in some embodiments ofthe present invention for comparison with test speech in a manner to bedescribed below.

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, recording an entireconversation and developing speech characterizing parameters for atleast selected parts of the conversation will prove useful for manypurposes. Thus, for example, subject only to brief pauses in aconversation to an authorized called party, the call may be handed offto another authorized party at the same called station—another familymember, for example. It will prove advantageous in some cases to developcall parameters for each such allowed call party. While speechparameters for individual participants in a conversation areillustratively developed and used during the course of an ICS call, itwill also prove advantageous to store certain speaker characteristicsfor future use. Thus, if an unauthorized person is determined to be acalled party, or is found to have been added to a call to an otherwiseauthorized party, then it will often prove advantageous to store speechcharacteristics of such unauthorized person for future use. Theseparameters are advantageously stored in a network database such asdatabase 323 in FIG. 3, or in a local database at control computer 110when a non-VOIP, i.e., analog PSTN inmate calling is used.

A common technique employed in embodiments of the present inventionrelating to the methods of flowchart of FIG. 15 is that of monitoringfor speech silence, where speech silence refers to the absence of speechsignal content on the communications connection or link (whether PSTN,VoIP or both) corresponding to speech by an inmate calling party and acalled party. Such speech silence will advantageously be detected inVoIP (or partially VoIP contexts) by a monitoring and recording unitshown, for example, as 343 in FIG. 12 or by a separate silence detector,illustrated as 322 in FIG. 12, cooperating with monitoring and recordingunit 343 in the network functionality shown in FIG. 12. In othercontexts, such monitoring will be accomplished in monitoring facilitiesassociated with an admin terminal such as 325, 335 or 365 in FIGS. 3A,3B and 3C, respectively, or as an added element at a correctionalfacility-based monitoring unit included in control computer 110 in theprior art system of FIG. 1. When computer 110 is used for thesepurposes, it will prove advantageous to re-program that computer toperform the inventive features shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, and describedherein.

The improved monitoring of inmate calls in accordance with FIGS. 15 and16 may be performed on premises controlled by an inmate calling serviceprovider, correctional facility personnel, or someone else designated toperform such monitoring. In appropriate other cases, in accordance withpresent inventive teachings, monitoring for speech silence may beaccomplished at any other point on or along an inmate calling path orlink.

Actual detection of speech silence (as distinguished from the presenceor absence of ambient noise, including background sounds) as describedabove will be accomplished by well-known signal processing apparatus forreceiving telephone call (or other) signals in analog or digital(including, as appropriate, packetized) form, performing any appropriatefiltering of these signals and then applying signal processingtechniques to determine the presence or absence of speech content.Illustrative speech detector techniques are described, for example, inU.S. Pat. Nos. 4,028,496 to LaMarche et al. and 5,822,726 to Taylor, etal, among many other published references. In modern implementations,detection of speech signals, even low level speech signals appearing inhigh or low noise environments are readily identified. In particular, ithas been shown in the many references in the field how to detect thebeginning and end of speech utterances, for a wide variety ofapplications. Such applications include automatic speech recognition andefficient transmission resource sharing.

FIG. 16 shows a generalized schematic representation of a speech silencedetector. Shown there is a speech detector 1601, which may be of anywell known type, illustratively assuming the form of one of those citedabove. Input speech applied on input 1600 to speech detector 1601 isprocessed by speech detector 1601 to produce a signal on output 1602whenever speech is present on input 1600. Advantageously, output 1602 iscoupled to a reset input to counter 1610, which may be of any well-knowncompatible design known in the art. Counter 1610 also receivesincrementing clock signals on input 1605.

Thus, if no reset signal (indicating the presence of speech on input1600) is present on input 1602, counter 1610 will continue to incrementthrough its counting range. When, however, speech on input 1600 causes asignal on reset input 1602 to counter 1610, the count of counter 1610 isreset to an initial condition, illustratively the all-zero state. Theoutput 1612 of counter 1610, designated T for Time, is applied to oneinput of comparator 1620. Comparator 1620 also receives auser-selectable threshold value T_(C), which is advantageously chosen torepresent a count in counter 1610 indicative of a time period, T_(C).This user-selectable time period represented by the value T_(C) allows auser to choose a duration of silence indicative of suspicious activityon a monitored telephone call. Such suspicious activity isillustratively associated with an attempt to place or otherwise create aforwarded, third-party, conference or other unauthorized inmatetelephone call after once having established an authorized call betweenan inmate and an authorized called party. An output is provided onoutput 1625 from comparator 1620, and counter 1610 is reset (not shown).

It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the functionsshown in FIG. 16 and described above will advantageously be realized byexecution of programs in a processor, such as that included in any ofthe call control processors in a personal computer implementation or atelephony switch such as IPTS 320 shown in the figures in incorporatedapplications included in this application as. Additionally oralternatively, a special purpose processor may readily be adapted forperforming such functions in light of the inventive teachings of thisapplication.

Returning to FIG. 15, a YES output from the test at step 1502 indicatesthat a period of speech silence exceeding a desired threshold, T_(C) hasbeen detected. It proves advantageous to selectively issue a warningmessage upon experiencing a speech silence interval equaling orexceeding T_(C). Such warning message will be chosen at the discretionof the system operator, but will illustratively be of the form: Acondition has occurred that is not consistent with the authorized use ofthis service. If the permitted use is not resumed within ten seconds,then this call will be terminated. The stated period (ten seconds) maybe chosen to be any appropriate period, and the stated action(termination) may be adjusted to an action that is appropriate to thecircumstances. Other particular warnings (or other informationannouncements) may be substituted as desired by the system operator.

As indicated by optional step 1506, the monitoring and/or recordingfunctions performed by the inmate calling system may be adjusted orinvoked as appropriate to the potential violation of allowed callingprocedures. Thus, for example, if recording of the conversation had notbeen underway at the time the excessive speech silence intervaloccurred, then recording may illustratively be turned on. Thisadjustment will conveniently be made by signaling network console unit1335 to appropriately alter mirroring of the call to storage units, suchas 1325 in FIG. 13.

Alternatively, or additionally, a record of the detected speech silenceinterval will illustratively be logged in an event log, includinginformation relating to the calling and (allowed) called party, anyconditions noted in a database, such as database 323 in FIG. 3A, thatidentifies special calling privileges or limitations applicable to thecalling party—including conditions relating to the particular (allowed)called party and any information relating to other events transpiringduring the call (and the speech silence interval) such as DTMF or othertones. In the case of packet-based calling, call setup or controlpackets observed during a speech silence interval may also be logged andused to influence call treatment subsequent to the issuance of thewarning at step 1504.

In appropriate cases, other optional call treatment represented by step1508 in FIG. 15 may be employed. Thus, an interfering tone, warble orother sound may be applied to either or both ends of a call, and theprompt of step 1504 (or another prompt) may be issued.

Again using functionality of the type shown generally in FIG. 16, or inequivalent programmed processor functionality, the resumption of speechbetween the allowed calling and called parties (indicated, for example,by a YES result from a test at step 1510) will allow the call tocontinue.

If speech resumes after a warning prompt or other action followingdetection of an excessive speech silence interval, other optional stepsmay be applied to the call as continued. Thus, in addition to againmonitoring for excessive speech silence intervals, it provesadvantageous—especially after a speech silence interval or othersuspicious call event—to also compare the speech of parties to theconversation after such the suspicious call event with that observedbefore the suspicious event.

For this purpose, an analysis of the speech of speakers on theconversation after the excessive speech silence period is performed atstep 1512. If, a comparison of speech parameters extracted at step 1512with those extracted previously from the analysis at step 1501 does notprovide a match at test step 1515, then it will in many cases proveadvantageous to terminate the call and perform any appropriatefollow-up. Such termination will be especially appropriate when thesuspicious event is the above-described excessive speech silenceinterval. This is the case because the suspicions of a possibleunauthorized additional or substituted party raised by the speechsilence interval tends to be confirmed by speech after resumption atstep 1510 that is found at optional steps 1512 and 1515 to not be thesame as that of any of the previously allowed called parties.

Follow-up indicated at step 1516 may include identifying the new calledparty on the conversation. This may be accomplished using available callsetup information that may have been collected during the course of thecall, including the excessive speech silence interval, or by comparisonof the speech parameters of the apparent new party to the conversationwith a database of previously stored sets of speech parameters, each setof which is known to be associated with an identified person.

SIP-Based Unauthorized 3-Way Call Treatment

Background

As noted above, numerous industry standards (including ITURecommendations) treating the architecture, features and other aspectsof IP telephony, including a wide full range of multimedia functionalityand services, have been developed by standards bodies, including theInternet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and InternationalTelecommunications Union (ITU) and others. Many of the ITU documentsrelated to such services and networks for providing them are describedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,494, which patent is hereby incorporated byreference for all purposes in this application as if set forth in itsentirety herein. Other features and operating modes of VoIP networks andservices are also described in this U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,494. Importantstandards such as the H.323 Recommendation by the ITI, and the variousSession Initiation Protocol (SIP) standards by the Internet EngineeringTask Forces (IETF) have been central to the development of VOIP networksand processes. In particular, the cited SIP protocols and theirextensions have been a stimulus to a wide variety of new VOIP featuresand applications. Embodiments of the present invention that employaspects of the SIP protocols, hereinafter, SIP.

Illustrative IP networks are described, for example, in InternationalPatent Application Number PCT/US00/40175, with International PublicationNumber WO 00/76158 A1, published Dec. 14, 2000. This publishedinternational patent application is hereby incorporated by reference asif set forth in its entirety herein. Voice and multimedia services overIP packet networks is now well known and popularly referred to as Voiceover IP (VoIP), which usage will be adopted in this application. Itshould be understood, however, that such services include real timemultimedia calling, streaming multimedia in all of its forms, andinteractive activities including gaming and much more. These servicesand infrastructure for making them available are described in, amongmany others, M. Goncalves, Voice over IP Networks, McGraw-Hill, 1999; O.Hersent, et al., IP Telephony—Packet-based multimedia communicationssystems, Addison-Wesley, 2000; M. A. Miller, Voice Over IP-Strategiesfor the Converged Network, M&T Books, 2000; J. Davidson, Voice over IPFundamentals, Cisco Press, 2000; and U. Black, Voice Over IP, 2^(nd)Ed., Prentice-Hall, 2001.

A. Sulkin, PBX Systems for IP Telephony, McGraw-Hill, 2002, provides ageneral overview of so-called IP PBX (IP Private Branch Exchange) use inproviding VoIP services. Sulkin, at pages 183-202, introduces anddescribes certain of the ITU and IETF standards publications useful inpracticing VoIP applications. It will be recognized from the above-citedreferences and the general knowledge of the art that the ITU H.323 (andrelated) Recommendations—sometimes referred to as the H.323 suite, andthe several IETF SIP standards compete and complement each other inmeeting requirements in developing and deploying VoIP applications. Afurther description of the various SIP protocols is provided in G.Camarillo, SIP Demystified, McGraw-Hill, 2002. Of course the best sourcefor standards information relating to telecommunications and theInternet remain the sources provided by the ITU and IETF. A frequentlyupdated web site presenting current status of many SIP and other VoIPdevelopments and standardization efforts is maintained at the ComputerScience Department at Columbia University.

As noted above in connection with other embodiments of the presentinvention, the very popular 3-way calling feature available to many PSTNcustomers provides a potential for abuse when used in ICS.

Techniques seeking to thwart unauthorized 3-way calling, including oneembodiment described above, have usually been applied after anauthorized call has been established. These techniques often employmonitoring a calling line to detect hook-flashes or other signalscharacteristic of a 3-way call attempt on an ongoing call. Calltreatment, including call termination, is then applied. In theillustrative embodiment of the present invention described above,techniques including monitoring for silence, announcements made by thesystem to the call parties and selective application of speakerrecognition techniques are used to discourage the addition ofunauthorized third parties to an otherwise authorized call.

The present inventive embodiment, by contrast, includes techniques forcontrolling inmate and other regulated-calling-context calling to ensurethat unauthorized 3-way calling is discouraged, and prevented before acall is allowed by determining with improved accuracy, and in a mannertailored to the packet network and VoIP context, which attempted callsare not authorized. Avoidance of false-positive 3-way call indicationsis readily achieved in embodiments of the present invention.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, existingconference calling mechanisms of VoIP systems and methods are employedon all or selected inmate calls, even when the calling party does notrequest such conference facilities. An appropriately configured ormodified existing conference calling mechanism appropriate to aparticular implementation is advantageously invoked to require that eachdestination or destination party in a VoIP conference call—even whenonly one party other than the calling party is present on the call—ispositively identified to an appropriate level of certainty.

Such positive identification can take the form of one or more of (i) astation identification, as by equipment code, e.g., a MAC or similaraddress, an IP-phone identification response, or mobile device (e.g.,cellular phone) serial number, (ii) an IP address, Ethernet address, orother network address, (iii) session ID, including an encrypted sessionID, (iv) Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) response, (v) a random orpredetermined number or code sent by a conferencing server only tospecified destinations that is returned after being subjected to atransformation, such as a hashing function that is characteristic of aparticular person or station.

In particular cases, biometric responses, including fingerprint, retinalscan or other such personal indicia can be sought to help verify theidentity of a party at a conference station. In other cases, stationequipment with personal identification readers, e.g., for sensinginformation on driver licenses, passports, credit or debit cards, orother cards having machine-readable data, can be used to identify aperson at a called terminal with increased certainty.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a request tocomplete a call from an inmate caller to a particular first destinationis conditionally treated as a request to set up a conference with thecaller and the first station, without any other destination stationsincluded or allowed in the conference. Conditions for such conditionaltreatment will include the identity and inmate status of the inmatecaller. Thus, if the inmate caller has failed to observe rules ofbehavior, including rules for telephone calling behavior, then it may bedetermined by correctional facility officials that this inmate callerwill have all calls treated as conference calls, and thereby subject toclose scrutiny. Such close scrutiny may include, in addition to havingall calls treated as conference calls, default recording of allconversations originated by that inmate caller, if recording is notalready a default mode of monitoring. In general, however, it will oftenbe determined that all calls will treated as conference calls, and(except for well-known exceptions, such as calls between an inmate andhis/her attorney) all calls will be recorded.

If the inmate has displayed other characteristics of behavior (or if,for example, he or she has been convicted of a particular crime) thenother then the call may not necessarily be required to have all callstreated as conference calls. In each case details of applicable ruleswill advantageously be stored in a database that is queried upon requestfor the exercise of calling privileges by each particular inmate. Thisdatabase will also provide other data to the conference server to betterevaluate how to allow calling privileges to be exercised by a particularinmate caller.

When a request for placement of an inmate call is received and adetermination that treatment of the call will be that treatment accordeda conference call, then the request is forwarded via a gateway or a useragent active in a SIP call treatment. Other particular arrangements maybe employed to place the request over a packet network to thenetwork-based conference server. Gateways will be adapted to permittraffic from a variety of station equipment at a correctional facilityto be processed by the present invention.

While a number of particular network configurations will suitably servethe conferencing requirements of the present invention, one illustrativearrangement presented in U.S. Patent Application 2002/0126626 A1,published Sep. 12, 2002 based on an application filed Feb. 28, 2002 andclaiming priority based on Provisional Application 60/280,783, filedApr. 2, 2001, will provide a suitable framework for these purposes. Thisapplication 2002/0126626 is hereby incorporated by reference as if setforth in its entirety herein. Other particular servers and equivalentframework functionality will be found in others of the references citedabove. Results of the present invention are accomplished throughsuitably adapting and modifying the cited servers and associatedfunctionality, including programming these existing servers to performsteps and functions as described herein.

After any required tests regarding called station and/or called partyidentity are performed by the network-based conference server, andresults are found to be satisfactory, then the conference call is joinedat the conference server. The inmate caller and the allowable calledparty may then carry on their desired conversation. If the original callrequested by the inmate was a conference call with more than one calledparty, and if all requested called parties are found to be allowable,and the identity of each called station and/or party is adequatelyverified, then the conversation will proceed with any mixed signalsbeing illustratively provided by the conference server in the mannerdescribed in incorporated U.S. patent application 2002/0126626 A1.

When a call is underway, data streams received from each party to theconference call, including 2-party conference calls, are monitored asnecessary to assure adherence to call restrictions. In particular, bymonitoring the calling party's address information on each input datastream, the server will verify that the originally allowed link is stillin the same state. Matters such as encoder type, sampling andtransmission rate, or any other signal stream characteristic thatchanges can be cause to suspect that the call has been changed by theattempted or actual substitution of another party. When such suspiciousbehavior is encountered, appropriate action can be taken by theconference server. Thus, for example, one or more parties in theconference can have his or her data stream terminated, mirrored toanother monitoring location, or simply redirected to anotherdestination, e.g., a corrections officer.

FIG. 17 shows a representative set of functional elements useful in apacket network context for detection of unauthorized 3-way call attemptsin accordance with aspects of the present invention. Shown there is arepresentative network structure 1700—illustratively shown in the formof a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), but suitablefor realization as a plurality of functional elements distributed overone or more packet networks of well known varieties. Thus, network 1700will illustratively include one or more portions adapted fortransmission of Ethernet packets or frames, and other packet types, suchas IP packets or Asynchronous Transfer Mode packets. For purposes ofillustration, network 200 will be assumed to be adapted for use with SIPprotocol features, including the well known conferencing functionalitiesavailable using IETF SIP standards.

Also shown in FIG. 17 is conference server functionality in the form ofone or more conference servers 17304, J=1, . . . , N, illustratively ofa type specified in known IETF SIP standard structures and protocols. Itwill be recognized that when more that one such conference server isrequired, such plural conferencing servers 17304 may be co-located orgeographically distributed to any desirable degree to meet system oruser needs, as may other functional elements shown in FIG. 17. It is thefunction of each conference server 1730-J to complete calls betweenparties seeking to join in a conference call. Access by such parties isfacilitated using well-known SIP agents, shown as 1770 in FIG. 17,acting on behalf of respective SIP clients. It is, of course, possiblefor such SIP agents 1770 to join their respective clients in two-partycalls in accordance with well-known end-point-to-end-point (oraddress-to-address) protocols without the benefit of functionalityprovided by SIP server(s) 1730-J. In describing advantages accruingthrough use of the present invention, however, emphasis will be placedon conference calling operations.

End points participating in conference calls in accordance with thepresent invention are advantageously SIP end points, but may, as well,be PSTN or other protocol-based end points, e.g., end points operatingin accordance with ITU H.323 protocols. When PSTN end points are toparticipate in such conference calls, it proves advantageous to employwell-known PSTN gateways, shown as 1750 in FIG. 17, which mayillustratively be of the types described, e.g., in incorporatedprovisional patent application I. Protocol Conversion Gateway(s) 1760represent gateways for permitting participation of H.323 or otherprotocol-based end points. Gateways 1750 and 1760 perform the necessarysignal format, data structure and other conversions appropriate topermit interfacing with the illustrative SIP-oriented network structure1700 and conference server(s) 1730-J. Such gateway functionality alsofacilitates interoperation of other functional elements shown in FIG.17, viz., dedicated server(s) 1710-I, mixer 1720, and support servers1740-K which elements will now be discussed.

Specifically, support server(s) 1740-K represent database and, asneeded, database management and data analysis functionality commonlyassociated with database systems for storing, retrieving and formingconclusions used by conference servers 1730-J and other system elementsshown in FIG. 17—all in accordance with aspects of the presentinvention. Dedicated servers 1710-I are functional elementsillustratively used in evaluating speech (and other) content, speakersand signals from end-point and other system equipment. Thus, dedicatedservers 1710-I are advantageously used to help in the identification ofparticular end-point equipment, addresses, and users at such end points.

Mixer 1720 represents one or more functional units for receivingincoming data streams, illustratively speech data streams, fromconference originators (e.g., inmate callers), invitees to a conferencecall (called party(ies)), and participants in on-going conferences. Alsopresent at mixer 1720 is real-time information regarding the conferenceend points and, advantageously, conference participants to permitidentification of end points and participants at such end points thatare part of the conference. In particular, address information,equipment identification and speaker identification is desirablyavailable at the mixer, which operates under the control of theconference server. Mixer 1720 has the primary function, of course, ofqueuing appropriate data streams for delivery to conferenceparticipants, with due regard to authorized party identification, endpoint location or address and the like and end point equipmentcharacteristics. Generally, data streams delivered to an end point in anauthorized conference will include a mixed version of the speech (orother) content originated at all (or selected ones of) the end pointsparticipating in a conference. When the conference is a two-personconference including a calling inmate and another authorized party, thenthe mixer merely provides each end with the streaming packets from theother party. Mixer 1720 will, of course, provide any codec translationnecessary for each receiving party. That is, if three authorized partiesare taking part in a conference call, and if each party is using adifferent particular codec, then Mixer 1720 will perform conversion offormat and other characteristics of a data stream from one party to aform suitable for receipt by each of the other parties. In doing so,Mixer 1720 will typically decode an input data streams and then mix andencode the decoded data streams using encoders appropriate to each ofthe intended recipients. Mixer 1720 will also perform signal alignmentfunctions, as is well known in the art.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating operations useful in embodiments ofthe present invention. Shown there, at step 1800 is a call requestorigination, as by an inmate lifting the handset of a telephoneinstrument in a correctional facility. Step 1805 represents callerverification processing described above. Advantageously, suchverification includes speaker verification by comparison of a spokenutterance by the caller with a previously recorded and stored sample ofthe person purporting to be the caller. Such representation will inappropriate cases be accompanied by presentation of a password, PIN orother device.

When the caller is verified to be the person he/she purports to be, thecaller is prompted at step 1810 to provide identification of the partysought to be called. If a 3-way call is requested, such identificationwill include identification of all parties to the call. Theidentification may be by a name, network address, PSTN phone number, orother acceptable identification. A local verification of theallowability of a call to the identified parties may be made, and arecording will be made of the caller identifying himself/herself if onehas not previously been made. When such recording is made and any localcalled party allowability (e.g., called party not on blocked list) iscompleted, the call request is forwarded at step 1815 to a conferenceserver 1730. At step 1820 a reference is made by a conference server1730 to a support services server 1740 to determine if any specialhandling is required for a call by the caller or a called party (e.g., alawyer) or any combination of these persons, or to an identified calledstation (e.g., a lawyer's office). Also, a prior determination may bemade that ordinary point-to-point calling may be acceptable orappropriate for the particular proposed call. For concreteness and easeof understanding, however, it will be assumed for present descriptivepurposes that all calls are to be handled as conference calls.

At step 1825 in FIG. 18, a conference server 130 invites identifiedcalled parties to join a conference call, the invitation advantageouslyincluding information, such as a coded character sequence that will beappropriate in some cases to identify the called station. In particular,such a sequence or other data originated by the conference server may beused by some end point devices to produce a transformed (e.g., byexecuting a well known hash function that is particular to the endstation) sequence suitable for returning to the conference server duringconference setup and, if the end point is approved for participation ina 3-or-more-person conference, during the course of the conference. Suchan exchange of data may also (or instead) include a MAC address or otherend-point address indicia that can readily be accessed by a conferenceserver.

In some embodiments of the present invention, a prescribed response froma called party end point (e.g., digital phone, smart phone, computer, oran add-on or plug-in device at a standard telephone—collectivelyrepresented by representative digital telephone 349 in FIG. 12) isillustratively chosen to be a hashed version of a prescribed sequence,with one of the hashing function or prescribed sequence being indicativeof the identity of the called station and/or the called party. Thus, forexample, if a serial number or other terminal identification indicia ispresent at the called station, and a sequence is sent from a conferenceserver 1730-J, the serial number will illustratively be used to define ahashing function to be applied to the sequence sent from the conferenceserver. The resulting hashed version of the sequence received at theterminal will then be sent to the conference server 1730-J. In practice,either the hash function or the identification indicia can be sent withthe manner of applying one as the hashing function also being indicated.

If an appropriate end-point validation indication is received (e.g., anappropriately hashed version of the sequence sent, or an expected MAC orother address—or a hashed version of either), then the test at step 1830will be deemed to have been passed (a yes determination at 1830). If theexpected validation indication is not found at step 1830, then adetermination is made that the called end-point should not be added tothe conference call. In practice, a conference server 1470-J willevaluate responses to a query message sent to a first network addressassociated with called party (or terminal or entity), and will accept aplurality of possible responses as sufficient evidence that the calledparty, or terminal, or other entity is present at the illustrative firstaddress. Such acceptable evidence is advantageously stored or generatedat conference server 14704 for evaluation of identification queryresponses.

If a first identification query sent to a called party or calledlocation (which may, for example, be a network destination for a lawoffice) does not include sufficient evidence of the presence of thecalled entity (or if no response is received), then subsequentidentification queries may be sent seeking further evidence. Dependingon the called party/entity, more than one network address may be used toaddress such queries. Conference server 1470-J will, as appropriate,employ public or private network directory services to locate ordetermine any necessary (and acceptable) initial or alternativedestination addresses for such queries.

Upon answer of a validated end-point, an announcement as to the natureof the call (e.g., one including a playback of the recorded callerspeech from step 1810 and a request to accept or decline payment) ismade at step 1835 of the nature of the call and a test is made at step1840 for acceptance of the call charges. If a called party declines topay charges for participation in the call, then that party is not addedto the conference. If all called parties (even if it is only one calledparty) declines, the conference call attempt is terminated. If anacceptance indication is sent by the called party in response to theannouncement at step 1835, then second identification tests areadvantageously made at step 1845. These tests may be optional, e.g., asspecified in a special handling determination at step 1820, but willadvantageously include those described above, and, in particular, mayinclude speaker identification applied to speech signals received fromthe called party end point and compared in a dedicated server 1710 inFIG. 17 with previously recorded speech. Server 1710 will illustrativelybe of a type described herein for use for speaker identification of acalling party. It will also prove advantageous to record speech from anapproved conference call, including a two-party call, using callrecording techniques described above, such recorded speech then beingavailable for use for future verifications. Such recorded speech willdesirably be identified in a database, illustratively in a supportserver 1740 where it will be identified as associated with particularcalling and called parties and/or end-points.

Step 1850 represents a determination, as by reference to LIDB or othernetwork databases in the manner described above in connection with otherembodiments of the present invention, and in incorporated provisionalapplication 1, or this step 1850 may reflect other billing preferencesof the service provider or a called party. If available billingtreatment is determined by the service provider to be inadequate, oruncertain, as reflected by a NO determination at step 1850, thenreference is made of the called party to a CSR for alternative billingtreatment. Instead, optional special treatment may be applied to aparticular call if special circumstances exist, as when a present callis the first by a calling inmate from the correctional facility. Suchspecial treatment is described, for example, in connection with FIG. 11.If the consultation at step 1855 results in a mutually satisfactorybilling arrangement (a YES determination at step 1860), the called partyis added to the conference call, as indicated at step 1865. If a NOdetermination is made at step 1860, the called party is not added.

Once step 1865 is performed, a conference call will be maintained withat least the calling party and one approved called party. Other allowedparties may be added during the course of this conference call, and someallowed parties may depart the call. In all cases, however, the joiningof a party to a conference call (again, including the case of a singlecalled conferee, i.e., a two-party call), call placement is made underthe express control of a conference server 1730 and is subject to anydesired and appropriate number of test conditions, as for an initialcalled party/entity. While a conference call is ongoing, a conferenceserver 1730 acting in selective cooperation with one or more supportservers 1740 and one or more dedicated servers 1710 desirably monitorsall ongoing calls, usually with the exception of those expresslyexcluded, e.g., attorney-client conversations. Such network-basedmonitoring may take many forms, but may include key-word (or phrase)spotting, speaker identification, and monitoring for any other desiredcondition or signal. Hook-flash and some similar conditions associatedwith some 3-way calling attempts in the past will not generally besuitable subjects for monitoring in packet-based systems, but the kindof monitoring undertaken is not inherently limited in accordance withthe present inventive techniques. Instead, address information,end-point device identification and other tools described above will beused with greater certainty and few false positive indications. Inaddition, biometric identification mechanisms, such as speakeridentification (or speaker change indications), and comparison ofcurrent speaker voice prints or other speech parameters with storedspeech information will prove more accurate and reliable than priortechniques.

FIG. 18 shows at step 1870 that ongoing conference calls will bemonitored for anomalies, such as unexpected address changes for a calledstation or end-user device, or a particular speaker (or a change inspeaker). Other anomalous conditions or failures to maintain particularconditions—as by the withdrawal of a previously approved identificationdevice (smart card, etc.)—will trigger an anomaly condition. Such ananomaly will then be reported, as by an alarm or other message toanalysis mechanisms, including support server 1740, and data fromdatabases included therein, for comparison and evaluation with otherstored information, all as represented by step 1880 in FIG. 18. Otherparticular anomalies suitable for monitoring and reporting (and otherremedial action) will include detection in the codec used by aparticular end point, or other transmission characteristics of aparticular data flow. Other changes, or attempted changes, in the mannerof mixing and synchronizing data streams will also prove useful inparticular cases as anomalies sufficient to cause further analyses. Ifunresolved, appropriate actions will, in appropriate cases, includetermination of a call or disconnection of a link to one or more callparticipants, or changes in monitoring or recording of a call,illustratively using facilities described herein. It will also proveuseful when particular acts associated with particular call participantsare detected to record and retain speech samples of potentiallyoffending call participants for future use in granting or refusingaccess to calls.

Finally, in due course a continuing conference call will be maintaineduntil hang-up by all (or all but one) of the conferees. This isreflected by blocks 1885 and 1890 in FIG. 18.

Since the conference server(s) 1730-J and associated other networkservers have greater control over called party access, and have apotentially much larger body of called-party and end-pointidentification information available, unauthorized 3-way callingattempts will be greatly discouraged. If such 3-way calls areestablished, they will be more readily detected and reported inaccordance with the present inventive teachings and practice. Further,additional information regarding called stations and called (andunauthorized added) parties available to the system of FIG. 17 willafford enhanced opportunities for remedial and preventative measures.

While this section entitled SIP-Based Unauthorized 3-Way Call Treatmentemphasizes benefits of the embodiments of the present invention relatingto a-way call prevention and detection, it will be recognized that theseteachings are applicable to more general access controls. That is, theseteachings relate more generally to access to, and continuedparticipation in, calls using voice (and other) packet communicationssystems.

Caller Authentication Using Biometrics

As noted in connection with other embodiments of the present invention,it proves advantageous to determine the identity of a caller seeking toplace calls in an ICS. Many of the call privileges and restrictions in acorrectional facility typically are user-dependent, i.e., particularinmates may enjoy greater or lesser calling privileges in relation topersonal behavior. Use of ICS system features, such as call monitoringand recording may also be dependent on the caller being accuratelyidentified.

For these reasons, a number of techniques, collectively referred to asbiometric tests or measures are advantageously performed in addition to,or in place of, more traditional personal identification practices, suchas use of identification (inmate) number with PINs or passwords. It hasbeen suggested that such traditional practices are concerned more withcards, codes and numbers—rather than being directly concerned withpersons. Accordingly, such biometric measures, or biometrics as face andhand structure, finger prints, and, especially, iris recognition andvoice (speaker) recognition. The latter two biometrics (iris and speakerrecognition) have high levels of accuracy and are constant over time.Tests have shown that impersonation of these characteristics is noteasily achieved. A report comparing various biometrics is available fromSecurimetrics, Inc.

Commercial offerings of iris recognition products are available, e.g,from Iridian Technologies, where available products include softwaresuitable for enabling cameras to collect iris image information frompersons, including inmates, and for processing such images for personalidentification purposes. Thus, captured image data is advantageouslystored in a database, such as database 323 in FIG. 3C, with knownidentification data. These image data are then advantageously comparedwith images derived at a correctional facility call center by scanningthe iris of a would-be caller. IPTS 320 in FIG. 3C advantageouslyperforms the transfer from a camera at the correctional facility todatabase 323 and performs the comparison of the currently generatedimage with images stored in database 323 to identify (or fail toidentify) the person submitting the current iris image.

A similar process is used in connection with personal identificationusing speaker recognition. Thus, a spoken sample of a person'sspeech—preferably an utterance relating to the person's name, PIN numberor some combination of such terms—is collected. Advantageously thiscollection is performed at a time when that person's identity can bedetermined with a high degree of certainty, as when he/she has beenarrested and finger-printed or otherwise subject to close scrutiny. This(reference) spoken speech sample is then stored, again advantageously ina database such as 323 in FIG. 3, and a current (test) sample of speechby a person purporting to have a particular identity is collected andcompared using a computer such as IPTS 320 in FIG. 3. When a sufficientsimilarity is determined to exist between the reference and testsamples, the identity of the person is deemed to be verified.

Illustrative commercial products providing speaker recognitionfunctionality are available from a number of vendors, including ScanSoftInc. See, for example, the description of ScanSoft's SpeechSecureSpeaker Verification.

Application of the combination of iris recognition and/or speakerrecognition together with more traditional user-ID, password and PINtechniques provides a high degree of certainty as to the identity of anindividual, and such techniques are used to advantage in embodiments ofthe present invention described herein.

It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that the presentinventive embodiments provide IP telephony systems and methods for usein inmate telephone service applications. The design makes possibleoperational efficiencies, a high degree of flexibility in serviceofferings, centralized or regionalized network control and easymaintenance of high value assets—all resulting in economies of scale andredundancy not previously available using prior on-site inmate callingservices platforms. As has been noted above, the 3-way calling featuresdescribed in connection with FIGS. 15 and 16 may readily be adapted foruse in present personal computer implementations of ICS.

While the foregoing description has been in terms of voicecommunications, those skilled in the art will recognize that thedescribed techniques are readily adapted for use with video andmultimedia communications contexts as well. Thus, for example, presentlydescribed techniques will find application in video visitation and videoarraignment, and other similar inmate communications contexts. Thus, forexample, typical areas of applications for present inventive techniquesare described in the paper by C. E. Johnson, et al., “New Technology isCreating Improvements in the Corrections Field, Corrections Today, July,2005, pp. 62-64, which paper is hereby incorporated by reference as ifset forth in its entirety herein.

While references are sometimes made in this application to subsets ofparties, it should be understood that this includes the subset havingall of the (usually, called) parties. The term call content, and relatedterm call content packets refer to the voice or other content of a call.Also, the term switch should be understood to include router inappropriate cases.

While the terms correctional or correctional facilities and relatedterms have been used extensively in the present description, it will beunderstood that such usage includes other confinement contexts as well.

1. A method practiced in data processing apparatus for monitoring andrecording telephone calls, the method comprising in said data processingapparatus: generating high quality digital electronic voice signalsrepresentative of voice signals present on a telephone call, monitoringsaid high quality electronic digital voice signals for the presence ofparticular predetermined words or phrases, said predetermined words orphrases from a call participant-specific word profile, said monitoringincluding flagging selected ones of said digital voice signals therebyto generate flagged electronic digital voice signals, temporarilystoring said high quality electronic digital voice signals, includingsaid flagged electronic digital voice signals, in a first state memoryapparatus, wherein said signals are only stored for a specified shortterm storage period, at the expiration of the specified short termstorage period, compressing said electronic digital voice signals toform compressed electronic voice signals and storing said electroniccompressed voice signals for long-term storage in a second memoryapparatus, indexing said stored electronic compressed voice signals,selectively retrieving said stored electronic compressed voice signals,monitoring said selectively retrieved stored electronic compressed voicesignals at one or more monitoring stations, and monitoring on a prioritybasis selected ones of said flagged electronic digital voice signals atsaid one or more monitoring stations.
 2. The method of claim 1 whereinsaid flagging selected ones of said digital voice signals to generateflagged electronic digital voice signals comprises adding a flag valuequantifying the importance of a found word or phrase.
 3. The method ofclaim 2 wherein the flag value is assigned according to the profile. 4.The method of claim 2 wherein a high importance is assigned to a numberof key words related to a suspected imminent crime.
 5. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the predetermined words or phrases comprise: a standardset of key words not related to a specific event; and key words relatedto the specific event.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the specificevent is a suspected imminent crime.
 7. A method for recording telephonecalls between a first telephone in an institution in which telephoneusers are subject to restricted telephone calling privileges and asecond telephone, the method comprising: in a first converter, receivingfirst telephone call signals from said first telephone, said firstconverter being adapted for converting such first telephone call signalsto signals of a form suitable for application to a communicationsnetwork, in a second converter, receiving second telephone call signalsfrom said second telephone by way of a network, said second converterbeing adapted for converting said second telephone call signals tosignals of a form suitable for use by said first telephone, in a firstdigital recorder, selectively recording first content signalsrepresenting information content of said first and second telephone callsignals, in a speech recognizer, identifying the presence and place ofoccurrence in said first content signals of respective occurrences ofone or more of a set of predefined words or phrases, and wherein saidselectively recording said first content signals includes recordinginformation relating to said place of occurrence in said first contentsignals of respective occurrences of said set of predefined words orphrases, and said selectively recording said first content signals isperformed subject to a first quality metric, wherein selection of saidfirst quality metric is based on currently existing telephone callconditions, and based on the occurrence of one or more of said set ofpredefined words or phrases in said first content signal and uponprofile information, sending said first content signals from said firstdigital recorder via an electronic communication for playback at one ormore monitoring stations wherein said first content signals areselectively communicated to notify a particular person, office, orvehicle identified by said profile information.
 8. The method of claim 7wherein said currently existing telephone call conditions comprises oneor more of (i) the identity of the user of the first telephone, the userof the second telephone, or both such users, (ii) information receivedfrom a source other than the users at the first and second telephones,(iii) the current predefined set of words or phrases, (iv)identification of particular ones of the predefined set of words orphrases, (v) information received from a call profile database, (vi)information received from a call criteria database, or (vii) an accountnumber associated with either or both of said first or second telephonesor users of either or both of said first or second telephones.
 9. Themethod of claim 7 wherein said selectively recording said first contentsignals includes recording said first content signals subject to atleast a default quality metric.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein saiddefault quality metric is selected to enhance the likelihood ofsuccessfully communicating said first content signals through aplurality of predetermined communications media.
 11. The method of claim7 wherein said one or more monitoring stations includes a communicationscenter for further selectively communicating said first content signalsby radio with one or more mobile radio receivers.
 12. The method ofclaim 7 further comprising compressing said first call content signalsto produce second call content signals subject to a second qualitymetric.
 13. The method of claim 12 wherein said second quality metric isless than or equal to said first quality metric, and said second callcontent signals require the same or reduced storage requirementscompared to those for said first call content signals.
 14. The method ofclaim 12 further comprising storing said second call content signals ina digital archive recording medium.
 15. The method of claim 13 furthercomprising the generation of indexing signals to facilitate retrieval ofsecond call content signals from said digital archive recording medium.16. The method of claim 15 further comprising selectively sendingindexing signals to one or more of said monitoring stations.
 17. Themethod of claim 16 further comprising selectively retrieving said secondcontent signals from said digital archive recording medium in responseto an electronic communication from one or more of said monitoringstations.
 18. The method of claim 17 further comprising selectivelysending content signals retrieved from said digital archive recordingmedium to one or more of said monitoring stations.
 19. The method ofclaim 7 wherein said second telephone is not in an institution in whichtelephone users are subject to restricted telephone privileges.
 20. Themethod of claim 7 wherein at least one of said first and secondtelephone call signals are analog signals and at least one of said firstand second converters performs an analog-to-digital or digital-to-analogconversion.
 21. The method of claim 7 wherein sending said first contentsignals for playback at one or more monitoring stations comprisessending said first content signal to corrections or law enforcementofficials.
 22. The method of claim 21 further comprising also sendinganother previously recorded call associated with a particular PIN orcalled party identification to the corrections or law enforcementofficials.
 23. The method of claim 21 sending said first content signalsfor playback at one or more monitoring stations comprises sending saidfirst content signal to the corrections or law enforcement officialsthrough a police communications center.
 24. A method practiced in dataprocessing apparatus for monitoring and recording telephone calls, themethod comprising in said data processing apparatus: generating highquality digital electronic voice signals representative of voice signalspresent on a telephone call, temporarily storing said high qualityelectronic digital voice signals, including said flagged electronicdigital voice signals, in a first state memory apparatus, wherein saidsignals are only stored for a specified short term storage period,wherein the short term storage period is longer for telephone calls forwhich the presence of particular predetermined words or phrases havebeen identified than for telephone calls for which the presence of theparticular words or phrases have not been identified, and at theexpiration of the specified short term storage period, compressing saidelectronic digital voice signals to form compressed electronic voicesignals and storing said electronic compressed voice signals forlong-term storage in a second memory apparatus.
 25. The method of claim24 wherein the short term storage period for which said signals arestored is limited to a maximum time.
 26. A method practiced in dataprocessing apparatus for monitoring and recording telephone calls, themethod comprising in said data processing apparatus: generating highquality digital electronic voice signals representative of voice signalspresent on a telephone call, temporarily storing said high qualityelectronic digital voice signals, including said flagged electronicdigital voice signals, in a first state memory apparatus, wherein saidsignals are only stored for a specified short term storage period,wherein the short term storage period is longer for telephone callshaving specific call profiles than for telephone calls not having thespecific call profiles, and at the expiration of the specified shortterm storage period, compressing said electronic digital voice signalsto form compressed electronic voice signals and storing said electroniccompressed voice signals for long-term storage in a second memoryapparatus.